


Hard to Translate

by ValxJuls



Category: Amar a Muerte (TV)
Genre: AU, Amar a Muerte - Freeform, F/F, No one is related except for Lupe and Juliana..even that not very related.
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-19
Updated: 2019-09-02
Packaged: 2020-03-07 22:25:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 79,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18882454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ValxJuls/pseuds/ValxJuls
Summary: AU. Future fic. Valentina Carvajal, former Blade Runner, is called back into the force when a group of robots crash land on Earth and go on a killing spree. When a seemingly unique in her own way robot weasels her way into Valentina’s life Valentina begins to question what it means to be human.





	1. Chapter.1

Twenty-one was supposed to be a milestone, an age of reckless abandon once alcohol drinking became legal. It was an age of just old enough without being old at all. But for Valentina Carvajal, as she turned twenty-one in November, 2019, it was nothing but a number, really.

"Come on, Val, hurry up so we can get out of the rain!" Her best friend, Sergio, laughed.

"You know how much you hate storms!"  
Just then, a crackle of thunder shook the heavens violently and Valentina, walking on a very busy sidewalk, halted, a trickle of dread shooting down her spine as she tried to look inconspicuous as she began to walk a little faster. "Thanks, Sergio," she grumbled as she walked faster to catch up with him. Thunderstorms made her uneasy, always had since she was a child and she had carried the mild fear into her adulthood much to her embarrassment.

"Excuse you," Valentina grumbled bitingly toward a woman who bumped into her. "Freak." She winded through the people with her umbrella held securely in her grip to keep her freshly curled hair from becoming rain soaked. Her heels, sensible wedges that could sustain her ankles while walking around all day squished against rapidly forming puddles in grooves on the sidewalk.

She felt a warm hand settle in her unoccupied one and looked over to find Sergio walking beside her. The only sensible part of his outfit was a sweater to fight off the chilled night air. Otherwise, he was in a pair of shorts without an umbrella to protect his slicked back hair as they winded down the sidewalk.  
The door to the restaurant was already being opened by a tall, slender woman as Valentina neared it and she sped up even more, catching it with a grateful smile in her direction. Sergio walked up a moment later to hold the door, and, one foot poised as a needless, habitual stopper in front of the door, Valentina wrung out her umbrella before closing it and walking inside. For a Thursday evening the restaurant wasn't very crowded and her tense shoulders drooped somewhat at the possibility of being served quickly.  
It was a quiet atmosphere with dimmed lights, the perfect place for the non-eventful birthday dinner Valentina had been hoping for. She caught a waitress's eye, a fit brunette, and smiled while pointing to a nearby table in question. The waitress nodded with a grin, and Valentina began to take off her coat as she and Sergio walked toward a nearby booth.  
"Okay, I don't know what the fuck to order here, Val," Sergio admitted as he settled into the booth. There were already menus there and he grabbed one, opening it with a confused frown. "I can't even pronounce half this stuff."

"Idiota," Valentina scoffed with a teasing smile. "Look, I'm ordering the Kapow chicken—you can get that if you'd like."  
"Spicy?" he asked.  
Her head tilted. "If done correctly."  
Sergio closed his menu with finality. "That's what I want." He flagged down the same waitress they had seen earlier and they ordered quickly. Once she was gone, Sergio waggled his eyebrows at Valentina across the booth. "Going out drinking tonight?"  
Valentina settled further into the booth with a sigh. "I don't know, Sergio. I kind of don't feel up to it."

Sergio frowned. "Come on, Val. You've been a wet blanket for the last few months. What's gotten into you?"

She glanced out the window to the rivulets of rain streaking down in various patterns on the other side. "I don't know," she said quietly.  
"I think you miss being a blade runner."

Valentina laughed once, hard, and turned to Sergio. "I hated that job."

"It gave you a rush, though.”

"Risking my life by retiring androids does not give me a rush, no."

He shrugged. "Gives me one."  
Valentina eyed him for a long moment. "How's it been lately? You don't talk about it much."

"Nothing's going on," He admitted. "I just sit at my desk all day collecting checks while we wait for something interesting to happen, like one of those skin-jobs getting away from Alacrán Corp and onto the streets."

Valentina hummed noncommittally at his answer. She drew the straw in her glass nearer and took a sip. Extra money in her pocket would have been great right now.  
The door to the restaurant chimed, and Valentina’s eyes cut over to the man standing in the doorway. Then they rolled. Lucho, still wearing his scrubs, walked into the restaurant.  
Sergio turned around as the sight of annoyance of Val’s face. His own face split  
into a grin. "Hey, buddy, over here!"

Lucho caught sight of Sergio and waved back, making his way over. He was the youngest intern at the city’s Hospital, a young man with a bright, promising future. He, Valentina, and Sergio all grew up together. They had a long tangled history that included Valentina rebelling against her parents and dating Sergio for a short, meaningless stint when she was sixteen because her parents had kept pushing for her to date the young boy with a promising future. Lucho had had a crush on her ever since, though Valentina suspected it had less to do with her and more to do with the fact that Sergio had got to sleep with her and he didn't. It was a past that they all decided to not mention when all three of them were together, but frequently talked about when one-on-one situations presented themselves.

"Hey, Val," Lucho greeted with a wide grin as he saddled up to the table. "Happy birthday."  
He brought his hand from behind his back to produce a bouquet of roses that Val smiled indulgently at. "Thanks, Lucho."

Sergio smirked at the two of them in amusement, hiding it behind a sip of his Pepsi.  
"Are either of you guys gonna give a guy a seat?" Lucho asked, looking between the two of them. Sergio subtly slid toward the end of his booth. Val caught the movement with a glare and sat the flowers down beside her in the seat.

"I wouldn't want to squash these flowers," she explained. "It's probably best if you sit beside Serg."

Lucho and Sergio looked at each other for a long moment, wondering how they were going to be able to fit their shoulders into a single booth. Finally, Segio sighed and stood up. "You've got inside, dude."  
"Fine," Lucho grumbled as he slid into the booth, Sergio following him. "Did you guys order already?"  
Valentina nodded. "Do you want me to get the waitress so you can order?"  
Lucho waved it off. "Just saw my first triple bypass today." He shuddered. "It just does something to a person. I don't have much of an appetite."  
"Softy," Sergio scoffed.  
"You try watching that and having to take extensive mental notes, and see if you can eat afterward."

"This is Sergio we're talking about," Valentina cut in. "This is the guy who fell shin first on a nail when we were kids and only cried because going to the hospital meant he wouldn't be home when the ice cream truck came around."  
"He didn't come around every day!" Sergio defended with a laugh. "I wasn't sure when I would see him again."

Lucho made an incredulous face, and slid his eyes from Sergio to Valentina. "So, Val, been well?"  
Valentina shot him a look. "I work the same dead end job everyday—what's not to be well about?"  
"Oh, come on, Val, it can't be that bad," Lucho cajoled.  
"No, of course not," Valentina bit out sarcastically. "I just sit around every day answering calls from women who have cats stuck in trees or dead beat boyfriends who won't pay child support, or—"

"How're your ribs doing, by the way?" Lucho asked. About two weeks ago Valentina had come in with bruised ribs from doing just what she had described, chasing a man down who hadn't paid child support.

Since resigning from a blade runner, a law enforcement agent who specialized in retiring replicants, Valentina had since fallen down the food chain of importance at work. She had gone from running down androids to running down men who refused to pay child support. Two weeks ago she had chased a man down three blocks and into an alleyway. She had been rapidly gaining on him when out of nowhere he threw a trashcan into her path. She had fallen over it and landed harshly on her side.

He had gotten away.  
And that was when Valentina had realized that her life had bottomed out. She was in a rut at age twenty-one, and had nothing that could really get her out of it.  
"Should have stayed a blade runner," Sergio sing-songed.  
"Bite me," Valentina shot back.  
Sergio shrugged and leaned back in his seat to look over at Lucho. "Are we gonna have to drag this chick with us to the club tonight, or what?"

Lucho grinned. "She's legal now, so she won't have to hold the bartender at gunpoint until he forgets her age and hands her a shot anymore."  
Valentina’s lips quirked at his comment as old memories came to mind. "I wasn't that bad."  
"You nearly got as us all banned that night!" Lucho laughed.

"Umm, excuse me, Ms. Carvajal?"

All three of them looked up to the waitress in front of them. Valentina’s eyes briefly drifted to the cops standing by the doorway before she looked over at the waitress again. It was the same waitress who greeted them with a smile when they stepped in, looking worried now. Valentina plastered on a fake smile. "How may I help you?"

"Those men over there are looking for you,"

she said, gesturing to the cops by the doorway.

"Holy shit," Sergio whispered.  
"And you as well, sir."

He straightened in his seat to eye the men behind him by the door. He swiveled back around to face Valentina. "Those are my guys, Val. No idea what they're doing here, though."  
"I'm not going with them," Valentina declared flatly.

"It's probably best if we do. Don't want to get arrested on your birthday, do you?"

It would have probably been the most exciting thing to happen to her in a while, actually.  
"C'mon, Val. Let's just go see what they want." Sergio slid out of the booth. "You go home, Lucho. They don't seem to want you, and there's no reason for you to have to go downtown."

Lucho slid out of the booth with a sigh. He held is hand out to Valentina, who ignored it as she stood up. "Call me when you get home so I can know you're okay?"  
"Yeah, sure," Valentina replied noncommittally as she stared at the cops. There were three of them, burly men who stood straight with guns in their holsters that Valentina didn't doubt they knew how to use well. If they were Eva’s men, then they knew how to aim and shoot. "Slip out through the kitchen," was the last thing she said to him as she walked in the opposite direction towards the men who were looking for her.

She came to a stop directly in front of them with belligerent posture as Sergio stood at her side. "I heard you wanted to see me," she said quietly, eyes darting to all three of them.  
They smiled.

"I have a proposition for you."

"No."

Lucía Lopez, Valentina’s former boss, chuckled heartily as she sat at her desk, feet propped up on important documents like they meant nothing. "Come on, Val, hear me out."  
"No," Valentina reiterated. "You had your men arrest me from my birthday dinner with friends to bring me down here because you want me to work for you? No. You've gone drunk on power and you think you can boss everyone around, but you're not going to do it to me."  
Lucía lips twisted as she stared at her desk. She removed her feet and scooted closer to the desk to clasp her hands on it and look at Valentina with narrowed eyes. "I'll increase your pay. You'll make more here with us in a week than you'll make in a month as a run of the mill cop."

"No."

Lucía sighed. "I'll throw in enough to pay for those acting classes you want."  
Valentina opened her mouth, but paused, closing it again as she mulled over Lucía’s deal.  
"Come on," Lucía goaded. "That's what you've been saving up your money for, right? The chance to go to an acting school? I can make it happen, Val. Just hear me out."  
Valentina folded her arms tightly across her chest as she glared across the desk at her. "You have two minutes."  
"I'll need five," Lucía said nonchalantly. She steepled her hands together over a stack of papers, took one look at it, and glanced up at Valentina again with sobering eyes. "Two weeks ago a spaceship crash landed on Earth. Twenty-three humans were killed by five replicants who are now on the loose."  
"Two weeks ago?" Valentina hissed incredulously. "This happened two weeks ago and you're just handling it now?"  
"That's because it's just been brought to my attention now. An hour ago, to be exact. Alacrán Corp had been trying to keep this under wraps and handle it themselves. Problem is they don't even know where their own replicants are."

"Don't they keep tracking devices on those skin-jobs?" Valentina spat.  
Lucía shook her head. "Apparently not. Now look, I'm offering you extra pay and a team to work with if you can hunt these androids down and retire them quietly. I don't want the public to know about this, Val. You know how nervous they've gotten about replicants lately."  
"And with good reason," Valentina insisted. "You remember what a hot mess it was two years ago when Alacrán tried to give those replicants emotions.”

It had been a disaster. The once docile androids had turned into disobedient terrors who often threatened the lives of their owners. They had started being reported one by one to the blade runner precinct until Alacrán Corp was shut down. Recently, the replicants had been used in outer space to aid technicians in their plans to create life sustainable atmospheres on other planets. Valentina had heard nothing out of the occasional act up for months. But this was simply horrific. Twenty-three dead, and the murderers were all over the city, and could truthfully be anywhere by now. It had been two weeks, after all.  
"The only good thing is that they're not like their predecessors," Lucía said. "These are right back to the basics. They may look like us, act like us, but when it comes to this—" Lucía gestured toward her heart. "Nothing but a light show. You'll be able to spot them."  
Slowly, Valentina shook her head back and forth. "I can't do this," she declared with finality. "No, I can't. I said the very last time that I quit. Do you know how dangerous this job is, Lucía? Do you even care?" Valentina quickly stood from her seat and grabbed her coat. "You probably don't because you aren't going to be the one fighting something three times as strong and fast as you are. I won't do this."

Valentina walked over to the door, and grabbed the handle to walk out.  
"Okay," Lucía chirped. "Then I'll just haul your father in for extortion. Put him away for probably five to ten years considering he's been doing it for most of his career."

 

Valentina stopped dead in her tracks. Her shoulders rose with tension as she spun around to face Lucía. "You wouldn't dare."  
Lucía smiled roguishly. "I'll see you Monday."

After leaving a rather colorful and lengthy voicemail on her father's answering machine last night, Valentina had reported to work the next day. Nearly everyone who worked there several months ago when she was still a blade runner was there now. Everyone was in one giant room, several desks strewn about with loud ringing phones. Mrs. Chivis still worked in the same desk towards the right. Jacobo still sat at the edge of his desk taking personal calls as he had when Valentina had been working there. She did not miss this job by any stretch of the imagination. The clacking of her heels became muffled as she continued walking, stepping onto carpeted floors.  
"Yo, Val!"  
Valentina turned to find her best friend, Sergio, heading towards her. He looked like an excited puppy, and Val could practically see big floppy ears on his head as he hurried towards her and wrapped her in a bear hug. "Didn't think you'd show," he whispered in her ear.  
"I didn't have much choice," was Valentina’s wry retort. She was cursing her father for her having to work this job. The only good thing to come out of this was literally the double pay she would be receiving considering hunting androids was an unpredictable and risky line of work. They were made to be non-violent beings, but living in a violent world often taught them new tricks.  
Sergio pulled back to rake his eyes appreciatively down her body. "Looking good, Val."  
"Get off it, Bitch."

"Again? Are you fucking serious?"  
Both Sergio and Valentina turned to the man screaming on the phone in the corner of the office. He was a short, balding man who Valenitina

thought was too old to be working a job that could overly excite him like this.  
"Fuck!" the man declared, glasses falling down the bridge of his nose. He lifted them higher with a shaky finger and looked up to find the office mostly silent save for about three ringing phones. Everyone's attention was on him, and he murmured a brusque goodbye, face grim as he hung up the phone. He heaved a deep sigh. "One of our EPR test administrators was killed by one of those damn skin-jobs," he growled.  
It was like a hush fell over the room; even the phones had stopped ringing. Valentina watched critically as the old man seemed to crumple back into his seat. He brought a hand to his mouth as his entire frame shuddered.  
Blinking, Valentina looked around as people slowly went back to their desks, the room solemn and silent. She jumped when Sergio placed a hand on her shoulder and looked up at him. His lips were twisted and he bit his bottom one before speaking. "This is the first time any of them have actually killed anyone on Earth. Things are a lot closer to home now."

Valentina nodded, feeling rattled as the severity of the situation began to weigh down on her.  
One of the doors in the back of the room dramatically swung open and Valentina turned around as her former boss turned current came storming out of the office. She took one look at Valentina and pointed at her then hooked her thumb over her shoulder. "You—in my office."  
Everyone in the room looked at Valentina as she walked forward into Lucía’s office, Sergio following.  
He closed the door behind them, and Valentina’s gaze washed over the new person in the room.  
"Eva—Valentina. Valentina—Eva," Lucía introduced with disinterest. "Now that we've all caught up, we can talk business." She sat down at her seat around the desk and looked up at Valentina, brow furrowing in confusion. "Have a seat," she cried incredulously.  
Valentina walked over toward the seat beside Eva and sat down, giving her a small smile.  
"So, you're the Val who used to work around here," Eva prompted. Her eyes raked down Valentina’s body for a moment. "Cute," she concluded. "I see you're still in shape. Good. Just don't get in my way."  
"Don't get in mine," Valentina instantly retorted.  
"Great, we're all out of each other's way," Lucía concluded as Sergio sat down on the other side of Valentina. "We need to get down to business." She picked up a blue folder in front of her and opened it. There was a stack of papers inside and Valentina leaned forward in interest as Lucía turned them around to face the three of them.  
"Five, right?" Val asked as Lucía spread the five sheets of papers out.  
"Five," Lucía confirmed. "Five replicants that we need to retire. As you know they have superior strength and speed, so tread lightly." Her expression was grave as she eyed all of them. "We already have one human dead on Earth, twenty-six total now. I don't need my operatives dying, too."  
They all remained silent, glancing at the names on each paper to acquaint themselves with the replicants they would have to be tracking down in the streets later. It was a pain that replicants were androids, looking so much like humans that finding them was needle-in-a-haystack difficult.

Lucía stood up, bracing one hand on the desk and pointing at the paper in front of Sergio with the other. "Leon Gonzalez," she said.  
Sergio snorted. "They have last names now?"  
"Alacrán had ordered so many built over time that they needed first and last names as a way of classification." They all focused back on the paper and the the descriptions that were listed below Leon’s name. "Combat model—and freaking big from what I've heard from our surveillance."

"I hate surveillance," Sergio grumbled. "They don't do anything but…look."  
"Makes you wanna kick 'em in the lens cap, if you know what I mean," Eva griped, and Valentina cracked a small smile. She liked a fellow smart ass.  
"Anyway," Lucía continued, "just watch out for this one. He's stronger than all of you." She shot Sergio a lingering look, then turned to the next sheet of paper.  
"Wait, was that a joke about my size?" Sergio asked. "Like, my dick size? 'Cause I can whip this bad boy out right now and—"  
"No," Valentina cut in. "Absolutely not. Lucía, continue please."  
Sergio deflated in his seat to glare at Valentina with squinted eyes. "Like you don't know," he grumbled, and Valentina rolled her eyes to fight back a blush.

"Hold up, sexing in the workplace is cool?" Eva asked, looking at all three of them "I'd likes to get my fraternizing on."  
"You will not be fraternizing, boobs of steel; you'll be too busy hoping to live through this catastrophe."  
Eva waved the insult off. "Only one person on Earth has died so far. I wouldn't call it a catastrophe yet."

"I would," Valentina said quietly. She looked over towards Eva. "They're strong. Stronger than us, and if they've started killing then we don't really stand a chance unless we isolate them and retire them one by one, which would be difficult because they travel toge—"  
Lucía snapped her finger and pointed in Valentina’s face. "Beautiful thought, Val. Hold it like a butterfly so it doesn't get away." Her lips curved into a lopsided smirk. "I knew I brought you back for a reason. It's like we share the same brain—Siamese twins."  
"Kinda gross," Valentina muttered.  
"As I was saying—" She pointed to the second paper. "Renata Hernandez—loader for nuclear fission."

"That doesn't sound too good," Sergio said.  
"Just make sure when you trap her, she isn't near chemicals," Eva muttered as she moved on to the third paper. "Guillermo García—pleasure model, for sex."  
Valentina’s face twisted as she stared down at the colorful descriptions of all he could do. "Oh, eww."  
"They couldn't have gotten anyone hotter?" Eva wondered with a frown as she read through his description and nearly gagged at 'bushy eyebrows'.  
"Android building supplies were obviously at an all-time low," Sue concluded with a nod. She placed her finger on the fourth sheet of paper. "Beltrán Camacho—entertainment. Says here he was a good dancer."  
"Entertainment?" Sergio spat. "See—this is the shit I'm talking about. They build all of these fucking androids and expect us to clean up the mess when one, two, or all of them go crazy!"  
"This really is stupid," Valentina agreed as her eyes scanned over all the papers. Of them all, Leon seemed to be the biggest, Guille the smallest and possibly the easiest to take down since his only function was literally sex.

"Luckily the government has stepped in and stopped production," Lucía said. "After this it'll finally be over."  
"If we're alive," Eva grumbled.  
"Oh, so you're taking this seriously now?" Valentina couldn't help but inquire in sarcasm.  
Eva shrugged a shoulder, crossing her arms over her chest. "I got a girl. Won't be of use to her if I'm dead, so…"  
Valentina’s lips parted in muted shock at the admission. She bit her lip and turned back to Lucía who was on the fifth sheet of paper. "Camilo Guerra who specializes in communication. From what I've heard he's a sweet talker, so be careful."  
"Sounds cute," Eva commented.  
Valentina rolled her eyes. "So, where do we go from here?"  
"You and you," Lucía began, pointing to Sergio and Eva. "I want you to work closely with surveillance today. Gather what information you can about the replicants and report it back to me." Her eyes then focused heavily on Valentina. "And you, conjoined twin, will be going to Alacrán’s Corporation. Dr. Valdés will be waiting for you."  
Valentina’s face turned ashen as her lips curled back in disdain. "Why do I have to be the one do talk to her?"  
"Because of your impeccable charm," Sue deadpanneed.

"Val? Hey, Val!"  
Valentina turned around at the exit of the precinct to find Eva jogging towards her.  
She came to a full stop in front of Valentina, panting lightly. "You don't mind if I call you, Val, do you?"  
"Actually—"  
"Great!" Eva grinned deviously at the grim expression on Valentina’s face. "Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to have lunch. I mean, I'm trusting you with my life; the least you could do is buy a girl some breadsticks."  
Valentina shifted her weight to her other foot, rolling her eyes in exasperation. But she wasn't too keen on going to Mr.Alacrán’s Corporation either, and stalling with lunch at Breadstix wasn't too bad of an alternative. "Sure. I'll drive."  
"And pay," Eva added.

"So, why did you get into blade running anyway?" Eva asked around a mouth full of breadsticks. Valentina was quickly learning that Eva was crude and lacking in the manner department, but she was starting to like her anyway. "A chick like you just screams housewife, teacher, or real estate agent."  
Valentina chuckled at how apt the description was as she drew her straw nearer for a sip of her ginger ale. "I was looking for a job," Valentina said simply. "And Sergio—the guy we're working with?" Eva nodded. "He's my best friend. He was already a blade runner and told me they were paying pretty well, and that I could use the money for my acting classes."  
Eva’s eyebrow shot up. "So, are you and muscles-in-Baby-Gap-shirt fucking?"  
"I—no," Valentina said in hesitation. She didn't really know how to answer the question, because yes, she and Sergio had slept together once in high school, but it wasn't good and ancient history between them now. History that she didn't want to share with someone she just met. "You can 'get your fraternizing on' with him if you want."  
Eva looked affronted at having her own words thrown back in her face. "I got a girl, all right?"  
"So I hear," Valentina remarked dryly. "What's her name?" she then asked, turning the tables.  
"Hannah," Eva answered. "My super-hot dancing, motor cross loving girlfriend." She leveled Valentina with a glare. "Keep your hands off."  
Valentina laughed heartily despite the threat. "I haven't even seen her."  
Eva cracked a small smile at seeing an echoing one on Valentina’s face. "So…" Eva began. "Got a boyfriend?"  
Valentina instantly thought of Lucho vying for her attention, which just really made her laugh.  
Eva’s eyebrow shot up in suspicion of the private joke she wasn't privy to.  
"I don't have one, no," Valentina answered after a moment.  
Eva’s expression was very much the same when she prompted, "Girlfriend?"

Once.

Her senior year in high school Valentina had gone through a bad streak, chopping all her hair off and hanging out with a group of girls who spent their days smoking and drinking. Valentina had gotten involved with the valedictorian, a smart girl with a promising future. Their romance ended when neither of them wanted to come out to their parents for various reasons that all boiled down to the same thing: they didn't want their parents' opinions about them to change, especially the valedictorian who ended up attending an Ivy League university.  
Having only been with two people in her life, one male and one female, at age twenty-one, Valentina really couldn't pinpoint her sexuality and didn't seem to care to. All she knew at this point was that she wasn't interested in Lucho.  
"I'm single," Valentina answered simply.  
"Weird. You're hot," Eva commented with a shrug.  
Valentina chuckled quietly. "Gee, thanks."

"I'm here to see Dr. Valdés," Valentina declared flatly once she had made it past the different levels of security of the Alacrán Corporation. It was heavily guarded day and night because over the years Mr. Alacrán had acquired many enemies over his production of androids. Valentina being one of them, but she didn't have the energy to be upset enough with the guy to want to kill him.  
The woman behind the desk was Shelby Corcoran, if her nametag was anything to by. She seemed no nonsense with a strong jaw and sharp eyes that ran over whatever dataset she was glancing over on her computer behind the desk. "Ms. Carvajal, you don't seem to have an appointment."  
"Detective Carvajal," Valentina corrected with a flash of her badge. Shelby's eyes widened slightly, and Valentina stifled a smug smirk at the sight of it.  
"Dr. Valdés is busy."  
"Then send me upstairs. I'll wait."  
"I'm afraid I can't—"  
"Listen," Val cut in sharply. She was starting to hate this woman already. "You can either send me through now, or I can call for back up, wait until they get here, then we can all storm right upstairs to talk to Lupita ourselves."  
Shelby looked wholly put out by the idea as the mild worry creasing her face smoothed over into impassivity. "There is no need for all of that, detective Carvajal."

Valentina tilted her head, gesturing to the elevator to her left. "Then I'm free to go, aren't I, Ms. Corcoran?"  
Shelby leveled her with a hard stare for a long moment. When it was clear Valentina wasn't going to be deterred, she sighed. "Yes. You can go."  
Valentina flashed a false smile. "Lovely."  
She turned from the desk and walked toward the elevator, pressing the up button and stepping aside. It dinged open with no one inside and Valentina stepped in, pressing the appropriate floor number and sinking back against the railing in the back of the elevator.  
Inhaling a deep breath, Valentina rolled her shoulders back, trying to reacquaint herself with this line of work. Though it had only been months, she was still on edge about the possibility of working with androids again. They weren't the most stable despite what Alacrán Corporation promised in their commercials. When faced with termination the androids became almost primal in their need to defend themselves. Though this was the first time any of them had ever killed anyone.  
They were largely a group of androids that were supposed to be working in outer space with space technicians who were trying to make the moon and neighboring planets life sustainable. The androids came in different kinds to provide different functions. But every once in a while one or two would escape the Corporation and when that happened, blade runners were sent out to track them down and retire them. This was the first time a fleet of androids had overpowered an entire spaceship full of people, killing them, and fleeing the spaceship once it landed on Earth. They had been on Earth just over two weeks, thus far only one person had been killed, leading Valentina to wonder what exactly the replicants were up to.  
The elevator came to a smooth stop and opened silently. Valentina stepped out, looking around to reacquaint herself with the hallway as she walked toward the only room on the floor. The doors were slightly ajar, and she opened them further, taking a cautious step inside. Sensory lights began to flicker on one by one with each step she took into the massive room until every light was lit. There was only a single table in the room full of chairs. Valentina’s grip around her briefcase tightened as she looked over her shoulder at the sound of wings flapping.  
An owl rested atop its perch in the corner. It took one look at Valentina, then turned away, eyes flashing as the evening light hit it. Valentina’s lips pulled back into a sneer at the sight of it. "Everything's artificial in this place, even down to the pets," she muttered.  
She shook off the odd feeling of dread shooting down her spine and walked further into the room, walking around the table and taking a seat to keep the door and the rest of the room in her line of sight. Her briefcase landed with a thud against the polished wooden table.  
The door creaked and sharp green eyes looked up as Lupita walked into the room, tall and slender in a white lab coat. A second pair of feet could be heard and Valentina’s eyes squinted at the sight of a slightly shorter woman in a pair of clacking heels walking just behind her.  
She was incredibly fit, dark brown hair curled into waves that bounced down her shoulders with every step she took. She had on a long sleeve white button up with an argyle sweater vest over it that Valentina had the urge to vomit on as the girl came closer. Her skirt was scandalously short and not at all professional enough for this meeting.  
"Good evening, detective Carvajal," Lupita greeted jovially. She wore a grin on her face that the young woman matched as she, too, walked closer. They both stood behind the chair across from Valentina, smiling down at her. "It's certainly been a while. I thought you had quit."  
Valentina’s eyes darted to the woman at Lupita’s side, giving her a once over before turning back to her. "Well, you know, when androids decide to show their asses I clean it up. Simple."  
Lupita’s smile wavered a bit as she regarded her. "I always wished the public went a little softer on the replicants. After all, they only learn what is taught to them." She looked over to the young woman by her side and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Have you met Juliana?" he asked Valentina.  
With a shy smile, Juliana stepped forward and extended her hand across the table. "I'm Juliana Valdés." Valentina’s face fell flat as Juliana softly continued. "It's a pleasure to meet you, detective Carvajal."  
Valentina’s jaw clenched as she looked from Juliana to Lupita. "Valdés?"  
Juliana grinned proudly as she looked up at Lupita. "She’s my mother."  
Valentina had known Lupita for over a year while working as a blade runner and not once had sge mentioned having a child. Dazed, her hand unwound from a fist to shake Juliana’s without enthusiasm. "Hi."  
"She's interning here for a few months to see if she likes it," Lupita supplied as she took in Valentina’s puzzled expression.  
"I see," Valentina said quietly. She felt wholly uncomfortable and grabbed her briefcase, wanting to get this over as soon as possible. It clicked open once unlocked and Valentina spun it around to face Lupita. "The reason I'm here is because our EPR test has been improved upon and I wanted to test the latest on a replicant that you may have lying around."  
Juliana’s brow furrowed. "EPR?"  
"Emotional and physiological response test, sweetheart," Lupita answered sweetly. She straightened her shirt absentmindedly as she said, "I'd be more than happy to help you out, Valentina." Her head tilted, a devious smile lighting her face. "Perhaps you should try it on Juliana first."  
Valentina lifted an eyebrow. "I thought you said she was your daughter and, therefore, human. I need a replicant."  
"What better way to know that your test truly works than to test a human?" She challenged. "You wouldn't want to overlook such a crucial step and end up mistakenly retiring a…human, do you?"  
The last thing Valentina wanted on her conscious was killing a human in her overzealous need to rid the world of replicants. Back stiff, she motioned for Juliana to sit down as she arranged the briefcase directly in front of her.  
Juliana hesitantly sat down in the seat, her fingers gripping the seat of the chair as she stared at Valentina. "This isn't going to hurt, is it?"

"Not if you're human," Valentina replied flippantly. She looked up to find Juliana wide-eyed and staring distrustfully at the device in front of her. Valentina rolled her eyes. "It's just a series of questions. I'll monitor your eye dilation and visible physiological responses. And when we're finished you'll be free to go. Maybe."  
Releasing a deep breath, Juliana nodded and settled back in her seat. "Okay. I'm ready."  
A bright, thin ray of light flashed directly in her left eye and she squinted before her pupil adjusted to the change.

"What's your full name?" Valentina asked brusquely.

"Juliana Barbara Valdés," Juliana immediately responded with.

Valentina looked over at her for a long moment, before continuing. "What's today's date?"

"November 8, 2019."

"Age."

"Twenty."

That made Valentina pause. Her gaze washed over the girl’s face with a critical frown. "You don't look it."

Juliana grinned. "I've always looked older," she joked. "I don’t know why. But I can assure you, detective Carvajal, I'm twenty."

"Okay." She reached forward into the mesh pocket of the briefcase to grab a stack of papers.

"Are we done?" Juliana asked hopefully.

"No." Valentina glanced over the questions on the paper. There were hundreds of questions, though most replicants didn't make it past thirty. So far Juliana was showing signs of being human, but a niggling thought in the back of Valentina’s mind kept her asking questions. But Lucía had said that only five replicants existed, so it was possible Juliana would check out as human. She looked up to watch the way Juliana fidgeted in her seat into a new position.

"You're watching TV and suddenly realize there's a wasp on your arm," Valentina prompted. "What would you do?"

It was a test designed to weed out typical human reactions from the more peculiar ones that replicants had come up with in the past. A typical response would be to swat the wasp away, kill it, even hop up and scream. An atypical response that Valentina had come across in the past? Shooting it.  
Juliana’s eyes widened at the question in some semblance of earnestly as she demurely replied, "I'd gently swat it away without harming it."  
Valentina stared at her for a long moment, her mind leaning towards Juliana being human as she took in her round eyes and sincere demeanor. A replicant couldn't feel and the replicants Valentina had run into in the past couldn't even begin to mimic emotions correctly the way Juliana was.  
Several questions later had Valentina sucking her teeth and switching to another page with harder questions.

"You're reading a magazine and you come across a full-page photo of a naked woman—"

"Is this testing whether I'm a replicant or a lesbian, detective Carvajal?"

Green eyes shot up at the question. The light flashing through Juliana’s eyes showed a slight dilation of her pupils as she regarded Valentina evenly. Valentina ignored the question and continued.

"You show it to your significant other and they hang it on the bedroom wall.  
"I wouldn't allow it," Juliana said quickly.  
"Why wouldn't you?"  
Her voice was soft when she challenged the question with, "Why aren't I enough?"  
Valentina’s jaw clenched at the question as her gaze dropped to the papers in her hand. She had never gotten an answer, or rather, question like that before.  
"Your father dies; what do you do?"  
"I would be devastated."  
"Yes, but what would you do?" Valentina reiterated.  
Juliana stared at her for a long time. "I would cry, detective. Mournfully."  
"You're at a crowded party with loud music, and everyone's dancing and having a good time. What would you do?"

That made Juliana pause. Her mouth opened, her bottom jaw trembling for a response. Finally, she settled on, "I would dance, as well."  
Valentina stood abruptly from her seat. "We're done."

Juliana’s eyes rounded to make her look almost concerned as she slowly stood from her seat. "Do I pass, detective Carvajal?"  
Valentina ignored her. Her eyes were hard as steel as she stared at Lupita who was several paces behind Juliana.

Lupita pushed into motion, walking up to Juliana and placing a hand on her shoulder. "You did very well, honey," she murmured. Juliana’s attention was still on Valentina as if seeking her approval, and Lupita gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. "Why don't you go ahead back to your office and I'll get detective Carvajal here a replicant to test on."  
Juliana sighed as her eyes finally left Valentina. She gave Lupita a tentative smile as she smoothed her hands down her skirt as if she was nervous. "Very well, then. I'll see you later, Mom." She turned to Valentina. "It was a pleasure meeting you, detective Carvajal." She turned around to swiftly walk out of the door, closing it soundlessly behind her.

"She doesn't know?" Valentina asked as soon as Juliana was out of earshot.

Lupita wore a roguish smile as she turned toward her. "She was good, no?"  
"I'll admit she's good at…portraying false emotions. And her instant recall of things like the date and her birthday is pretty exceptional. What—did you give her a faster processor than the others?"  
Lupita made a face at her choice of words, but didn't comment on them. "What gave her away?"

Valentina shot her a wry look. "She was good. But she sucks at social cues and situations. She faltered a little during the funeral question and completely sucked during the party question."  
Lupita hummed softly, hands clasped behind her back as she pondered over her statement.  
Valentina sighed heavily as she reached down to collect her papers, turning the briefcase around and stuffing them inside. She closed the test inside, hesitated, then placed her hands firmly on the table, curiosity getting the better of her as she looked up at Lupita. "What is she?"  
Lupita’s jaw clenched as she angled her head towards her. Her eyes flashed with pride she told Valentina, "She's special."

Valentina sipped gingerly on a fresh cup of coffee at eleven at night as the phone cradled between her neck and shoulder began its third ring. She rested her forearm horizontally on the cabinet above the counter and laid her head against her arm as the line clicked over.  
"Sergiozilla on the line."  
"Sergio," Valentina hissed urgently into the phone at the sound of his voice.  
"You're go for 'em, babe. What's up?"  
Valentina sighed heavily. "Lucía was wrong."  
"What?" His voice perked up suddenly, and a twinge of excitement laced his voice. "Wrong about what? Spill, Val, this is serious."  
"She was wrong about the number of replicants. There aren't five, Sergio. There are six," she babbled uncharacteristically.  
"Six fucking replicants," he spat incredulously. "Are you serious?"  
Valentina nodded, though she knew he couldn't see. "It gets even weirder. The sixth replicant? She thinks she's human."  
"The fuck?"  
"Yeah. I put the EPR test on her today, and she almost passed it. I had to ask almost a hundred questions." Realization gripped her and her eyes widened as she stared down at her marble countertops. "If I had quit at the standard thirty, she would have passed that test, Sergio. And I almost did, but something told me to keep going."  
Sergio was quiet for a long moment. Finally a whispered curse floated through the line before he asked, "And she doesn't even know?"  
"Lupita told her that she passed and told her to leave. And get this—her name is Juliana. Juliana Valdés."  
"As in Lupita Valdés?" He asked needlessly.

"Pretty much."

Sergio paused for a long moment. "Her daughter? Are you sure the test isn't just wacked, Val? Maybe she really is human."  
"She failed the test," Valentina insisted. "Besides, Lupita admitted that she's a replicant."  
"And you're sure this chick doesn't know she's a replicant?"

"She was sitting there asking me if she passed the test, Sergio. There's no way she knows." Valentina lifted off the cabinet to run a hand through her hair in frustration. "Besides, I stayed with Lupita afterward and talked to her about it. She-she called her special. How sick is this woman? Anyway, they're doing something completely new over there, Sergio. Juliana’s the first of this new kind of replicant who can generate emotions based on previous experiences that have been implanted into her hardwired 'brain'."  
"What the fuck are you talking about, Val?"  
"Memories," she whispered. "Lupita said she gave her memories—false ones. And she completely reconstructed her make-up. She says she's basically human. A human made by a human."

"What the fuck are they trying to do over there?" Sergio asked rhetorically. "Don't they remember when they tried to give those skin-jobs emotions and it completely backfired? Those things went crazy. They're not human, Val, and they're not meant to be."  
Valentina snorted sardonically. "Tell that to Dr. Frankenstein."

"Well, where is this Juliana chick now?"  
"Alacrán Corp. Lupita seems to be able to keep her under control under the guise that she’s her mother and she's interning there for a few months."  
"She seems harmless, Val," Sergio admitted after a moment. "She doesn't even know what she's capable of. I mean, she thinks she's human," he laughed. "Plus, she's cooped up at Alacrán’s for now, so she's not an immediate threat. I say we take care of what's out in the streets now and get her later."  
Dread churned in Valentina stomach as she chewed on her lower lip. But Sergio was right. There were much more dangerous replicants on the streets now that needed to be taken care of. Juliana was a sitting duck at Alacrán Corp where she would be once Valentina, Sergio , and Eva managed to get rid of the others.  
"Yeah," Valentina agreed after a moment. "You're probably right. Hey, listen, just don't tell Lucía about this, okay? She'd have our asses for this."  
He chuckled. "I like my ass just fine. I won't tell."


	2. Chapter 2

Valentina slid smoothly into the parking space in front of her apartment. She killed the engine with a sigh, twisting her neck to loosen her tired muscles. Truth be told, she had been ready to accept Juliana as a human halfway through that test and the fact that Juliana had nearly slipped under her radar was jarring. 

It seemed that Lupita was getting better at constructing her androids, and that more than anything was giving Valentina the initiative to retire them once and for all.

She grabbed her gun from the glove compartment and slid it in the inside lining of her coat. Then she grabbed her groceries, three bags of protein, a little carbs, and guilty pleasure sweets, and opened the car door to step out.

"Good evening, Valentina!"

Valentina jostled the bags in her arms to see over them towards her neighbor. "Good evening, Mrs. Scott!" 

Valentina pleasantly called back as she walked up the stairs and into her apartment building.  
The landlord, an ornery old man with a hump back was opening his door to step outside and Valentina quickly hurried to the elevator, stepping inside with a relieved sigh when the door opened. Her landlord was a prick and she avoided him as much as she could.  
"Hi, detec—"

"What the hell!" Valentina exclaimed, dropping her bags and reaching for her gun with practiced ease to draw it on the other occupant in what she had thought was an unoccupied elevator.

From a dark corner on the floor of the poorly lit elevator, a figure emerged. It was a woman, Valentina guessed from the softness of her voice, and she was at her level of height once she stood to her full height. She took a couple of hesitant steps forward into the dim light.  
Valentina sighed.

Juliana.

Shadows danced along her tan skin, and Valentina squinted to see her better.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Valentina gritted out through clenched teeth, fear quickly morphing into anger at the sight of Juliana. "I could have shot you!"  
"I'm sorry," Juliana said softly, wringing her hands together. She appeared nervous as she continued to step forward.

"What are you doing here?" Valentina demanded again.  
"I-I wanted to see you," Juliana stammered. "Talk to you," she corrected. "So, I waited."

The elevator dinged open as Valentina glared at Juliana, gun firmly pointed forward. She could take the shot with no repercussions, because no matter how much Juliana pretended to be human, she wasn't. It would have been so easy. One gone, five more to go.  
She watched Juliana's chest heave with a large breath as if she was afraid, and Valentina slowly withdrew her gun. Perhaps another day. Perhaps in another situation, one that would be gratifying and not this pathetic fish in barrel situation. 

There was a part of Valentina that was beginning to want Juliana to know her own status before she was retired.  
Keeping her in her line of sight, Valentina slowly placed her gun back into her coat pocket and bent down to grab her groceries.

Juliana breathed another needless breath, depriving actual oxygen breathing humans of air as she took another step forward. "Let me help you."  
"What do I need your help for?" Valentina shot back as she stepped out the elevator.  
Head bowed, Juliana followed silently behind her as they walked to Valentina's door. 

Valentina dropped her bags at her side to fish her keys out of her pocket.  
Wordlessly, Juliana bent down to grab the groceries, hoisting them into her arms and turning to better see Valentina.

When the door opened, Valentina turned around to find Juliana diligently holding her grocery bags in her arms. Jaw clenched, she pushed the door open more and walked inside. Juliana followed behind her, kicking the door closed with her foot. She nearly dropped a bag in her arms and quickly bent lower to get a better grip on it before following Valentina into the kitchen.

"You have a lovely home, detective Carvajal," Juliana complimented as she looked around the living room.  
Valentina felt for her gun to make sure it was still there as she trained sharp eyes on Juliana. "Thank you." She nodded towards the table in the corner of her kitchen. "You can sit them there."

Nodding with a disarming smile, Juliana walked the groceries to the corner of the room and sat them down. She turned around, tugging on the hem of her sweater as she stared at Valentina.

Valentina leaned back against the counter and crossed one leg over the other, folding her arms across her chest. She canted her head to the right to stare at Juliana. "Once again, why are you here, Valdés?"

Juliana cleared her throat. "You think I'm a replicant," she said quietly. It wasn't a question.  
"And you think you're human."  
Juliana's chin jutted out in pride and defiance. "I am."  
"Then why are you here?" Valentina asked coolly.  
Juliana stared at her blankly. She rubbed her lips together in thought before quietly answering. "Because you doubt me, and Mom won't tell me why."

Valentina scoffed, biting down on her lower lip while shaking her head. "Mom?"

Juliana's spine straightened at the condescending tone that dripped from Valentina's voice. "That's who she is to me, detective. My mother."  
"Then why are you here?" Valentina bit out scathingly. "Run along to your mother, and your life, Valdés."

"I need answers," Juliana said, voice so soft it was as if her lips moved without speech. "And she won't tell me why you have such a false opinion about me."

"False?" Valentina prompted. Her steps were slow and predatory as she approached her mark to stand a few feet in front of her. It would be like taking candy from a baby, retiring Juliana right now. 

"If you really thought you were human you wouldn't be here."

"I am human," was Juliana's instant and seemingly only defense.

Valentina smiled cruelly. "Oh, yeah?" she goaded. "When's your first memory?"

Juliana didn't answer right away, and Valentina continued, wanting to get this skin-job out of her house as soon as possible.

"When you were five?" Valentina pressed scathingly, recalling all Lupita had foolishly told her days ago. "Are you on a carousel?"

Juliana's face went ashen at the description and Valentina chuckled mirthlessly.  
"Do you have memories of falling off a bike and skinning your knee? Pictures of your father who possibly died?"

"Shut up," Juliana whispered. Her throat worked with a tight swallow. "You don't know what you're talking about."  
"Do you have memories of going to the zoo? Prom?" Valentina continued, egging Juliana on. "Hell, do you even have memories of this so called dad?"

"Shut up!" Juliana shouted, slamming her hand down on the table. A loud cracking noise ricocheted off the walls in the silence between them. Juliana's eyes widened immediately at her own outburst and she drew in on herself, curling her hand to her chest. 

Valentina stepped closer and Juliana cowered away from the table as Valentina looked down at it. The wood was splintered and cracked where Juliana's fist had been, a deep impression left in the corner of the table.  
Valentina looked over at her, and grabbed Juliana's wrist, thin and limp in her warm hand. She turned Juliana's hand around for inspection and saw no damage, just smooth tan skin. "Yeah, a human could so do this," she replied dryly, referencing her table.

Juliana's lower lip trembled. "I am human," she defended, jerking her hand back. Her dark eyes began to glisten as the overhead light in the kitchen shined down on them, and Valentina took a step back at the sight as a lone tear slid down Juliana's cheek. "Why are you being so mean?"

Valentina quickly turned away from her, shock causing her chest to cave in. What the hell was that? Tears? This skin-job was able to cry? She ran her hand along the tightly coiled muscles in the back of her neck as she walked away from Juliana. Behind her, she could hear Juliana crying harder, a full on blubbering sound, and Valentina sighed heavily as a headache began to thump through her head. "What do I know?" 

Valentina grumbled. She heard Juliana sniffle and sighed again. "Look, you're human, all right? You're human. Clearly I was mistaken. So, go home."

Valentina turned around to find Juliana staring at her like a kicked puppy. "No, really. Go home, Juliana."

Taking her bottom lip between her teeth, Juliana suppressed gut-wrenching shuddery sobs as the realization of everything came crashing down on her. Her chest fluttered with uneven breaths as the vision of Valentina in front of her became blurrier with each tear that welled in her eyes. She took a step forward, and kept walking until she passed Valentina with hunched shoulders and walked out of the kitchen.

The next thing Valentina heard was her front door clicking shut and she sagged against the counter in relief. Befuddlement gripped her at the memory of how real Juliana's tears looked along with the anguish on her face. 

But that couldn't be. Juliana was artificial. She couldn't feel emotions. Not to mention the fact that she was a replicant. She had failed the test despite Lupita’s best efforts to create the most human-like android in existence. She was arguably the most dangerous replicant out there because she could convey emotions better than the others Valentina had come across.

She needed to be retired. And Valentina would make sure that she was.

Valentina walked right into the precinct and bypassed Sergio whom had a stupid good morning grin on his face. She made a sharp left around the corner toward her old office that Lucía had given back to her.

"Whoa, what's your problem?" Sergio asked, stiff arming the door that was almost slammed in his face. He opened it and slipped inside, closing it and hesitantly walking closer at the sight of the glare Valentina was shooting him with. "What'd I do?"

"I could kill you right now!" Valentina hissed, reaching for her coffee mug. She twisted the lid with shaky fingers and took a luxurious sip. Sleep had eluded her last night. Thoughts of Juliana knowing where she lived plagued her mind, and she wondered if Juliana would off her now that the truth was revealed. Whether or not Juliana would show up to her apartment in the middle of the night, overpower her, and kill her on sight.

But something about Juliana seemed so harmless, that a part of Valentina doubted the girl even knew what to do with the strength that she had.

Across from her, Sergio looked like a scolded child as he shrank down into the seat in front of Valentina's desk with shrugged shoulders. "What for?"

"Guess who the hell showed up at my apartment last night, Sergio?" Valentina whisper-yelled.

"Lucho?" he guessed, having no idea where this was going.

"Try Juliana," Valentina replied, face contorting into a grimace as she watched recognition flicker in Sergio's dark eyes.

"The replicant chick?" he asked needlessly. "How the fuck did she get your address?"  
"She 'works' at Alacrán’s Corp, Sergio, it's not hard to believe that she was able to get it with all the billion dollar state of the art technology they have lying around, herself included."  
The weight of the situation was finally falling down on Sergio, and his eyes hardened. "She didn't do any to you, did she?" He quickly glanced over Valentina in assessment. 

He'd never forgive himself if his childhood friend had been hurt after he told her not to worry about something she had obviously been worried about.

"She cried, Sergio," Valentina sighed.

His jaw dropped. "What? You're sure that chick didn't hit you in the head or something?"  
Valentina scoffed. "She cried when I told her she was a replicant."

"So, she really didn't know," he mused.  
"She said Lupita wouldn't tell her anything, so she came to find me." Valentina sighed, taking another sip of her coffee. She let the mug hover in front of her face for warmth as her elbows rested on the table. "I don't get this girl."

A roaring knock on the door pulled both of their attentions to it as it open to show Lucía standing dauntingly in the doorway. "If you women are through gabbing, we have business to discuss. Be in my office in five seconds." She shut the door and walked out.  
Sergio and Valentina took one look at each other, then walked out of Valentina's office and into Lucía’s to find Eva already sitting down waiting. "Took you guys long enough," she griped.

Lucía just stared at the two until they sat down. She was quiet for a long moment as she mulled over the words churning in her head. She liked to think of herself as a motivational speaker at heart, and she never spoke unless the right words were on the tip of her tongue.  
"Guille García is a street walker," she finally settled on.

Eva was the first to react, an amused guffaw lurching her forward in her seat before she covered her mouth. "Sorry," she wheezed, completely unapologetic as she continued to laugh. "No one else finds this funny?"

Valentina scratched at her bunched forehead, eyebrow slowly rising. "Where does he…work?"

"Tyson Ward, downtwon."

"Fuck," Eva muttered under her breath. "I did not leave the projects just to go back."

"Oh, can I go?" Sergio asked excitedly, gripping the arms of his chair.  
"I'm sending Val and Eva in, because this guy should be easy." Lucía smirked as she leaned back in her seat. "He's practically a sex doll."

"Well, what the hell am I gonna do?"

Lucía stared at him with narrowed eyes for a long moment, sizing him up. Her elbows rested on the arms of her chair as she steepled her fingers together. "You'll be working with intel to take down Renata."  
Valentina patted him on the shoulder before Sergio quickly spun out of his chair in excitement. "See ya later, Val!"

He was out of the door soon after and Valentina trained her eyes on Lucía whom was putting on a pair of reading glasses. She held up a stack of papers in front of her and read over them for a moment.

"Guille was last seen with a man lacking facial hair, a rooster coifed mane, and porcelain skin," Lucía muttered.

Valentina's lips scrunched up in confusion. 

"Are these notes from intel or your own notes?"  
"Clearly they're mine," Lucía admitted with an air of smugness about her. "Surveillance couldn't properly describe the boy, and from my years attending drag shows—don't ask, inflatable chest." Lucía cut her eyes to Eva whose interest had peaked at the mention of drag shows. "I know a gay man when I see him and I know how to properly describe him."

"And no one knows what the skin-job prostitute looks like?" Eva asked.

"A short brunette; nothing more than that,"   
Lucía answered. "And apparently Alacrán’s Corp no longer has photos of their own replicants. That's something I'll personally get to the bottom of."

"Okay," Valentina drawled at the vague reply. Let the finding a needle in a haystack, Russian roulette game begin. She looked over to Eva. "You're driving. I don't know my way there."

Valentina leaned over to lock her door almost instantly when the car came to a stop.  
Eva scoffed, face twisting in disdain. "Save your rich, white girl routine for people who'll care." She gestured to the people walking on the sidewalk outside. "Obviously they don't care enough to rob you."

Valentina swiveled around toward her. "We're cops, Eva, no one likes us. Whether we're in the suburbs or the ghetto, I'll lock my damn door." She turned back to her own business, reaching into her bag for the pair of binoculars she had picked up on her way out of the office.

They were parked on the corner of Tyson Street where surveillance attested to the man who bought Guille for a few hours.  
Eva’s eyes narrowed to squint into her binoculars. "Think he'll come back?"

Valentina grabbed the grainy photo of the man that was given to them right before they left the precinct. Porcelain skin, indeed. Not that she had room to talk. She peered back through her binoculars toward the opposite end of the street. "Surveillance said that the guy walked down this way, paid Guille, did the deed, then continued down your side of the street." She pushed out a breath. "I'm going to assume he lives somewhere in the area, perhaps works somewhere in the area, if he's walking about."  
"Or he trolls this place for cheap sex," Eva grumbled. "Sick bastard."

An amused smile touched Valentina's lips. "You're judging the guy before you even get to know him."  
"Would you pay for sex?"  
Valentina paused for a beat. "Good point."

They stayed diligent to their respective posts as silence fell between them. Valentina exhaled slowly, wondering how long this job was going to last. She was already focusing on her last mark: Juliana. Juliana, who was a replicant who mistakenly thought she was human until last night. Juliana, who punched a dent into her now splintered wooden table. Juliana, who Valentina honestly didn't know whether or not she was stable. And from drawing on past experiences, Valentina couldn't help but distrust her no matter how doe-eyed and innocent Juliana appeared to be.

Her thoughts came to an abrupt halt when a tall, slender man came strolling down the sidewalk. "I may have something," Valentina murmured. She adjusted her binoculars to better see the coifed mane atop his head like Lucía described. Fumbling behind her, Valentina attempted to find the picture on the center console.

Eva looked down and grabbed the picture, taking a look at it and placing it in Valentina's hands. "Well?" She grabbed her own binoculars and trained them on Valentina's side of the sidewalk. "What's he wearing?"  
"Skinny jeans, a pair of chocolate boots, a tight black sweater, leather bag slung across his chest, and his best bitch face."  
Eva scanned the six people walking on the sidewalk until she found the person Valentina was describing. Her lips curled into a sneer. 

"That's him."

"Let's go."

They dropped their binoculars and hopped out of the car. Valentina had learned long ago that blade running, when outside of the office, was not a pencil skirt and wedged heels line of work. She wore a pair of combat boots, tight jeans to run more smoothly and a simple dark top that she didn't care about getting blood on. 

She forgot to tie her hair back and it ran loosely down her shoulders as the wind picked up outside. Eva’s hair was in a high ponytail and she wore a similar outfit to Valentina's as she rounded the car. She hurried forward with tight shoulders toward the sidewalk.  
Valentina gawked at the overt way Eva was tackling the situation, then she remembered that Eva was new to the job. She glanced over at the man walking toward them unsuspectingly, then hurried toward Eva. She grabbed her shoulder, and Eva jerked away. "Are you crazy?" Valentina hissed.  
"What are you talking about—he's right there!" Eva shot back heatedly. "Look, I was hired to do a job, and—"  
"So, do it correctly," Valentina demanded. She looked across the street to find the man in question staring directly at them. "Damn it," she muttered under her breath. "Now that you've blown our cover…" She reached into her pocket for her badge, trying to look as disarming as possible as she approached him. 

"Police."

At the sound of her voice he immediately took off in the opposite direction.

"Fucker," Eva growled, taking off like a shot after him.

Valentina jammed her badge back into her pocket and took off after both of them. 

"Police!" she yelled again. She had learned when giving chase in neighborhoods to identify herself in order to keep from getting killed because of being suspected to be a robber or other criminal, but also in case there was some kind soul who wanted to help.  
Everyone on the sidewalk parted to the side as Eva passed by followed by Valentina; her legs pumped hastily to smack her booted feet against the pavement as she began to run just that much faster. The man in front of them wasn't particularly fast, but he was slender and winded through people easily.  
Valentina began to pant as she gained on Eva, slowly passing her like it was nothing.  
"What the hell?" she heard Eva exclaim in surprise from behind, but Valentina ignored her.

From several feet ahead Valentina saw the man turn into an alleyway, and she smiled. "Got you," she mumbled to herself. It was a rookie mistake, one that told Valentina this guy had probably never been in trouble with the law before. She skidded to a stop by the alleyway and rounded the corner to find him trying to climb a wire fence.

Valentina sped up on him and grabbed the back of his sweater with both hands, using her body weight to propel them both backwards. A surprise breath whistled from his throat when he was pulled back and Valentina used the momentum from their imbalance to slam him face first against the nearest brick wall.  
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry!" the man immediately cried. His hands braced obediently against the brick wall before Valentina could even wheeze out a warning. His feet parted, and he babbled out apologies as Valentina looked up, tossing her head back to remove a lock of hair from her face to better see Eva closing in on them.  
Eva panted quietly as she stood off to the side, a pair of handcuffs dangling from two belt loops in her acid washed jeans.  
"What are you, some Olympic sprinter?" Eva panted in shock.  
"Sure," Valentina replied vaguely with a forced laugh. "Cuff him, will you?"

"What's your name?" Valentina asked tiredly. Interrogation rooms were never her favorite. A small, dark room with only one overbearing light, shadows along suspects' faces, nothing about it was appealing.

The man they had just caught had a small red, irritated patch across his cheek that rubbed a little too roughly against the brick wall Valentina had him against earlier. His arms were crossed over his chest in defiance, chin lifting as he turned his head just so to side-eye Valentina. "Dave," he finally answered, voice soft and clipped.  
Eva’a eyes flicked over his designer outfit in judgement. "You don't look like you're from around here."  
Dave ran a hand through his hair, seeming to age in front of them as frown lines creased his face. "I'm not."  
Eva shot Valentina a smug, told you so look.  
"What were you doing there, then?" Valentina asked.  
He remained stiff-lipped, staring at the wall.  
When no one said anything for a while, Valentina sighed. "Okay. You have two options here, Dave. You can either confess to buying sex from a pleasure-model replicant named Guille García, then talk to our sketch artist to composite a picture so we can find him. Or you can be held here until you give us more information."

"You can't hold me here against my will when there's no evidence that I've done anything, honey," he insisted. "Fifth amendment."  
"Mundane laws don't apply to us, honey," Eva spat. "When a suspect is held under suspicion of receiving fellatio from a replicant, they can be held for as long as I want them to be." Her eyes narrowed as her lips pulled into a condescending grin. "Eva’s Bill of Rights."  
"We also have you on video," Valentina said with a shrug. "So, you know, stall all you want, but you did it and we have proof."  
His eyes widened as they shifted from Eva to Valentina and back again. "You're bluffing."  
"Try us."

They had both said it, and attempted to stifle matching grins at how similar they were.  
His chin trembled, lips parting, suspended from each other for a long moment before he actually spoke. "Please don't tell my dad," he whispered.

Valentina's face remained impassive though inside she was practically sobbing with relief at the possibility of getting home at a decent hour tonight. "Just tell us what happened."  
"I was just in the neighborhood, you know?"  
It was probably a lie, but that wasn't Valentina's problem. She was only concerned with one isolated incident, and didn't question why Dave was in here to begin with. "Continue."  
"And he-he was just there," Dave explained. "I didn't know he was a replicant right away, but then I figured it out. I freaked, okay? Then he said all he knew how to do was…you know, so he was harmless, I figured. And then he said he had been separated from the others."

Valentina exchanged a grim glance with Eva. Separation wasn't good.  
"I have never had the chance to have sex with a guy before."  
"TMI," Eva complained.  
"I just wanted to know what it was like. So, I gave the guy a few dollars, enough to put him up in a motel for a couple of days."

Valentina perked up at that tidbit of information. "What motel?"

"Motel 6, just something cheap," Dave answered.  
"Where is it?"  
"A couple blocks down from Tyson Street."  
The door to the interrogation room slammed open and Dave jumped as Valentina and Eva turned around to find Lucía standing there. "We're playing Wife Swap, ladies. Val, you're out and Sergio's taking your place.”

Valentina looked perplexed as she slowly stood from her seat. Lucía stepped aside and Sergio muscled through the doorway. 

He took one look at Dave and frowned in exasperation. "How far did you get?" he whispered.

"Pretty far. Just make sure he talks to the sketch artist before he leaves," Valentina answered lowly in passing. She closed the door behind her to find Lucía standing across the hallway with her arms folded. "There a reason you called me out of there?"

"Were you able to put the EPR test on a skin-job at Alacrán’s?"  
Valentina instantly thought of Juliana. And this was the time she could admit to Lucía that there was a replicant over there that she didn't include in her headcount, a replicant that wasn't going into outer space and, therefore, could be retired. "No." Valentina lied instead. "There were no active replicants there."

Valentina had instead decided that if anyone was going to retire the replicant that had boldly showed up at her apartment, it was going to her and her alone.  
Lucía nodded. "Then I want you to put the test on Guille when he gets here."

"Okay."

"And find out his age. The other replicants will be the same age; they all came off the line at the same time."

Valentina clasped her hands behind her back to lean against the wall. Her lips quirked in incredulity as she regarded her boss. "Kill switch?"

The kill switch was what every replicant was created with. It was a vile in the circuit boards in their heads that was set to leak acid and fry their mainframes after four years of activity, effectively retiring them. It was meant to be a foolproof plan to ensure that the replicants didn't learn thoughts and actions that could be detrimental to human life with their superior strength and speed.

"From what I heard from eavesdropping, Guille isn't a part of the pack anymore," Lucía muttered. Her gaze was trained on one-way glass to watch Sergio, Eva, and Dave in the interrogation room. "An android with individuality is a dangerous thing, and it stinks of old age."

"You think they're close to their kill switch date?" It raised questions of Juliana and whether or not she was from the same line as the others and subsequently had the same kill switch date.  
"I think if they are," Lucía began carefully, "then they're going to be smarter and more cunning than I originally thought. They've probably been able to learn and build upon that knowledge. They may even learn emotions."  
Valentina shot her a doubtful look.  
"Hate, fear, anger, envy, love—"  
"The day I see a replicant love I'll eat my hat," Valentina drawled with an eyeroll.  
Lucía’s lips lifted into a lopsided grin. "You don't own a hat."

Valentina smirked. "Exactly."

Silence hung heavy between them for a long moment. Then Lucía pushed off the wall and walked down the hallway. "Take a lunch break. I'm making Sergioerman catch that fucker since he allowed Renata to so skillfully elude him."

Guille was even smaller than Valentina had originally thought. He was soft spoken and bouncy with a blinding smile that was truthfully annoying. He was definitely a replicant, though, and had failed the EPR test miserably. Valentina stared at him for a long moment as he stared blankly back—nothing but a light show, indeed. "Where are the others?"  
"I wouldn't know," Guille answered in a flat voice devoid of emotion. "They left me."  
His words weighed heavy in Valentina's mind. They—the replicants were starting to distinguish others from themselves, and me—they were starting to individualize. Replicants weren't created with the higher function to see themselves as individuals, and the fact that this one did made Valentina question his age. Valentina reached behind her, into the waistband of her jeans to feel the weight of her gun. "When did you last see them?"  
They had impeccable inner clocks, so when Guille spat out, "Three days, thirteen hours, twenty-seven minutes, ten seconds," she knew this to be accurate.  
"Why are you all here?"  
Guille’s face twitched faintly. "I don't know."  
Valentina's eyes widened the barest hint. He had just lied to her. That was certainly a learned trait. "So, what—you just happened to kill a spaceship full of people and crash land on Earth? Did you hear it was a buyer's market and wanted to settle down?"  
Guille didn't respond, and Valentina sighed, "How old are you?"  
"Three years, ten months, five days, twelve hours—"  
"That's enough, Guille. Thank you." Just as Sue had suspected, Valentina noted. They were dangerously close to their kill switch date, which meant that in almost four years they could have learned anything.  
Which ultimately meant that it was time to end this. Replicants on Earth were illegal under penalty of retirement. Alacrán knew this, and could kiss his million dollar investments goodbye. Valentina idly wondered yet again how old Juliana was, and if she was near her kill switch date as well.  
Pushing the thought aside, Valentina stood quickly and pulled out her gun in one fluid motion. She trained it on Guille and he jumped back in his seat with a slackened bottom jaw. 

"Tell me where they went."

His expression turned grim as he leapt from his seat. In a pair of handcuffs he lunged savagely head first across the table. Valentina took three measured steps back and fired just as many shots in his head. Guille fell limp and unmoving to the ground. There was no thick, red blood dripping from his head to signify a human being. There was simply…nothing.  
It was like unplugging a toaster oven.

Valentina clicked the safety on and placed her gun back into the waistband of her jeans. She swung her leg over Guille at her feet and walked out of the interrogation room.  
Lucía was predictably waiting for her. "You couldn't get more out of him than that?"  
"No," Valentina answered curtly. "Once he had lied to me, I was pretty much done with him."  
"They can lie; they can separate themselves from the group—"  
"They can be separated from the group," Valentina corrected. "The way he had briefly described it, they left him. He was left to his own devices and did the only thing he really knew how to do."

"Turn tricks to get a motel room for a couple of nights." Lucía smirked. "Pretty Woman ain't got nothing on this story." Her face turned somber as she recalled one piece of information. "They're almost four."  
"And they're stealthy," Valentina added. "No one's called about a replicant losing their minds and killing everyone in a mall or something."

"Yet."

She nodded imperceptibly. "Yet."

Valentina sighed from a long day's work as she walked out of the elevator. She saw a small figure curled into a ball on her doorstep and her heart lurched at the sight. Hand twitching, it flew behind her to grab the handle of her gun. Her eyes narrowed as the figure began to stand up.

It was Juliana. Again.

Juliana stood to her full height in front of Valentina's door. The past day or so seemed to have aged her and she finally looked that twenty she had been talking about as she regarded Valentina evenly.

Neither one of them spoke a word to each other for a long moment. Truthfully, Valentina was in shock. She couldn't for the life of her figure out what the hell Juliana wanted from her and why she kept showing up at her apartment.

When it was clear Juliana wasn't going to say anything, Valentina walked forward, fully prepared to get inside her house and leave Juliana outside, or put a bullet through her head if she tried anything.

"Are you going to kill me?"

Valentina's spine straightened at the blunt question and the soft tone of voice it was spoken in. She jiggled her keys out of her coat pocket, glaring at Juliana for her audacity before opening the door. She grabbed Juliana by the arm and yanked her inside. The door closed behind them and Valentina slammed Juliana against it so hard that the China on her living room table shook audibly. 

Juliana didn't even bat an eye. "Don't you ever ask me a question like that on my doorstep again, do you hear me?" Valentina growled.  
Juliana looked completely unrepentant, a touch defiant as she stared up at Valentina with wide eyes. "Are you?" she demanded.

Valentina pushed off of her. She stared at Juliana for a long moment. "Only humans can be killed. Replicants are retired." She then turned to walk away. "However, to answer your question: yes."

She walked through the living room and into the kitchen, shrugging out of her jacket and tossing it onto the kitchen table. Juliana stomped audibly behind her and into the kitchen as well, tears already welling in her eyes. She spotted the gun in the waistband of Valentina's jeans and quickly grabbed it.

"What the hell?" Valentina spun around as fast as she could, expecting the gun to be pointed at her.

But Juliana was pointing it at herself in a melodramatic way that made Valentina's heart race regardless.  
"Do it," Juliana told her in a thick voice as her chin trembled. Her eyes were glistening once more to Valentina's astonishment.

Valentina dared to take a step closer. Once she had a second to think rationally she remembered that she always put her safety on when she wore her gun in the waistband of her jeans, and that this showdown wasn't all that serious.

But from the way Juliana was now crying, it was a serious matter to her, it seemed. "Juliana—"

"Do it!" Juliana shouted suddenly. Her chest heaved with a hiccup as tears slid down her cheek. Her hand shook around the gun and it slid through her air like a warm breeze. "What do I have to live for? Am I even alive?"

Feet quiet against the tiled floors of her kitchen, Valentina took measured steps toward Juliana. She was treating this like a suicide situation, which she didn't understand. But years of training sent her brain and body into autopilot and she found herself actually talking to Juliana like she was a person. But her words belied that sentiment.

"Am I, detective Carvajal?" Juliana whispered.  
"No," Valentina answered just as quietly. "No, you're not."

An anguished cry that Valentina would never forget crawled from Juliana's chest as she sunk to the floor. Her hair covered her eyes as she stared down at the tiled floors she was crying real tears on. Valentina could see them clear as day on the floor; they were real. Juliana's shoulders sagged forward and the gun dropped to the floor, jean clad legs resting against cold tile.  
Small sobs radiated off of Juliana as she wrapped her arms around her shaking frame. She looked up at Valentina with red-rimmed eyes, looking betrayed and hopeful all at once. 

"Can you hold me?" she whimpered.

Valentina swallowed heavily at the sight of her mark crumpled before her, asking to be held. Valentina didn't know what kind of world Juliana dwelled in—asking for the person who was going to kill you to hold you sounded ludicrous to Valentina's ears. Juliana should have been fighting back. Valentina could grudgingly admit that Juliana could easily overpower her and kill her, the only person as far as Juliana knew to know she was a replicant. It would be so easy for her, yet Juliana was here instead, on the floor looking broken as she stared up at Valentina. This was not what Valentina had signed up for.  
Prior training of how to handle anxious and distressed people had Valentina kneeling down to be level with Juliana in an attempt to establish direct eye contact. Juliana cowered away from Valentina. "Please don't kill me," she whispered.

Valentina had never met a replicant that begged for its life in such a way. It was like a human facing the barrel of a gun and realizing that they had so much to live for, pleading for their life because they had a family and so many years left to live a fulfilling life.

"What am I?" Juliana asked in a meek voice and wide, wet eyes, expecting Valentina to have all the answers.

Jaw clenching at how much trust rested behind that question, Valentina looked away with a sigh. "I think you should go home," she declared with finality.

They both sat there for a moment longer as Juliana composed herself. She wiped her eyes with tiny sniffles of sadness and confusion, and Valentina eyed her wearily.  
Then Juliana stood up, legs shaky like Bambi as she took a step forward. Valentina's eyes strayed to her gun laid forgotten on the floor. It would be so, so easy.

But it felt so inhumane.

She hopped up on her feet to find Juliana staring sorrowfully at her. "I'm truly sorry for imposing like this, detective Carvajal," Juliana murmured. "It was very inconsiderate of me to burden you with my own problems, and—"

"Just stop," Valentina sighed, not wanting an apology for…this. Whatever this was.  
"Are you going to kill me, detective?" Juliana asked again as if hoping that after all of this Valentina would change her mind.  
"I'm a blade runner," was all Valentina said. "Replicants on Earth are illegal under penalty of retirement."

Juliana's breath hitched. "I see," she whispered mournfully. "Well, I know my way out, so…" When there seemed nothing left to be said, Juliana turned away and walked out of the kitchen.

The same click signaling Juliana's departure that was heard a day ago was heard again now and Valentina slumped back against the counter tiredly. She looked down at her unused gun and asked herself when the hell did she grow a conscious for replicants when she had just retired one a few hours prior. She bent down and swiped up her gun, ignoring the tears glistening on her floor.  
There was absolutely no way she could tell Lucía about this now, not that she ever planning to.


	3. Chapter 3

Valentina woke up half expecting to find Juliana curled up in the corner of her room, crying. Thankfully she wasn't there, and after swinging at her alarm until it quieted, Valentina stretched in her giant room with the luxury of being alone. Pitch black sheets crowded about her waist as a white tank top clung to her skin. She blinked bleary eyes open to stare at her ceiling, then veered off to the rest of her room. She did pretty well for herself considering she had been providing for herself since she was eighteen. Her father had lost all the money he extorted over the years in one fell swoop when his business partner swindled it out from under him, and Valentina had been left to her own devices ever since.

Her parents, who had divorced when she was sixteen because her father was unfaithful, were forced to combine everything and move back into one house because neither could afford a mortgage each. It was a soap opera waiting to happen, and Valentina had taken the first chance she had at moving out when the blade runner academy came calling and offered pay for training. She had been able to put herself up in a relatively cheap apartment and hadn't looked back since.

She swung her legs over the bed and sat them down on polished wooden floors. They were stiff at the knee this morning, and she extended them slowly, working them back down, then up again until she could move them without her left eye squinting in discomfort. She stood to full height slowly and took measured steps forward with a sigh.

She was in business.

Her morning routine was breezed through: a cold shower to force her sluggish body to wake up, brushing her teeth, placing a small hoop earring into each ear, and dabbing on a hint of lipstick—enough to say I want to look good and not I'm looking for an affair at the office.

The thud of her booted feet clunked through the narrow hallway that led from her bedroom toward the living room with the bathroom and kitchen off to the side. She paused past the bathroom and at the threshold of the kitchen, squinting into the living room at the light flashing on her answering machine on the table in the right corner beside one of couches against the wall. It was a very old school device, but at the time she had bought it she was still struggling with money, having just made a security deposit on her apartment with her first paycheck and having just enough left over for a chunky ten dollar corded phone and answering machine combo.

Her head tilted in muted curiosity as she walked into the living room, again half expecting to see Juliana. Valentina was beginning to feel a little put out of her own home, which started to irritate her. She squeezed between the couch and the coffee table in front of it to lean over the arm of the couch and press the button with the red light flashing above it.

You have one new message. You have three saved voice messages, her answering machine needlessly informed her in a feminine and charming voice. First voice message:

"Detective Carvajal, this is Dr. Valdés. It's been my understanding that Juliana has been visiting you. I would like to flat out say that I don't appreciate the way you've been talking to her and would like to see you at your earliest convenience. Please call to schedule an appointment. Have a nice day."

The message ended, and Valentina saw red. She stalked back through the living room and into the kitchen to prepare a pot of coffee as her jaw worked back and forth. She was an occasional teeth grinder when under stress, much to her dentist's chagrin. The message sitting on her machine was simply unprofessional and unnecessary. What transpired between Valentina and Juliana no longer became Lupita’s business the second Juliana decided to engage Valentina in her own home. Valentina wondered just what the hell Juliana had told Lupita that warranted a barely contained angry voicemail on her machine.

She poured coffee into a mug, thoughts elsewhere. She didn't know whose ass she wanted to shove her boot up more: Juliana's or Lupita’s. Popping the top snuggly onto her coffee mug, Valentina switched the coffee pot off and stormed out of the kitchen, grabbing her keys on the table beside the door and headed to work.

The double doors were ajar like the last time and Valentina slipped soundlessly inside. She had decided to use her lunch break to head over to Alacrán’s Corp. The blinds were drawn over the large window on the other side of the room causing black and gray shadows to align side by side along the expansive room. It was darker inside than last time and Valentina allowed her eyes to adjust before walking further inside. For all she knew this could have been a set up to off her considering as far as Lupita knew Valentina was the only one who knew of Juliana. Dr. Valdés was already in the room, sitting on one of the many chairs at the table. She stood as Valentina walked toward her.

"You wanted to see me, Dr. Valdés," Valentina stated plainly. Her voice barely echoed off the walls as she stopped in the middle of the room to distance herself from Lupita.

"I did," she agreed. She placed her hands in the pockets of her lab coat where they curled into noticeable fists. "Detective Carvajal, it is your job to retire replicants—not to heckle my daughter."

Straight to the point. Valentina's tongue clucked along the roof of her mouth in a rude display of her annoyance. "My job is to retire replicants, Dr. Valdés, of which your 'daughter' is one of them. Furthermore, all bets are off when she shows up to my apartment of all places unannounced and certainly uninvited. So before you even begin to berate me about how I treat Juliana, you need to get her in check first."

Lupita began to look visibly sick as her forehead creased, brow bunching in irritated incredulity. "You're going to retire her? Still?"

She sounded like Juliana, and Valentina rolled her eyes. "She's a replicant."

"She's harmless," Lupita insisted. "Does she really threaten your own existence that much?"

"Replicants on Earth are illegal under penalty of retirement." Valentina's eyes hardened. "You all know the laws. Just because you've managed to create something that's passable as human doesn't mean she is human."

"She is human." Lupita took a step closer, fists clenching in her coat pocket. "More human than human, detective Carvajal."

"I suppose that's debatable, but a moot point considering she's an android."

"She can walk, talk—she can feel, detective."

Valentina gave pause at the last of her statement as memories of Juliana's tears remaining on her tiled floors until they evaporated came to mind. "She seems to be able to simulate emotions," Valentina grudgingly admitted.

"She can emote, period, detective. From what I've gathered you've witnessed that much." Valentina didn't respond right away, and pride for her own creation blossomed on Lupita’s face. "As I've stated, she's special."

"Just because you keep calling her special doesn't mean she can 'emote' where it really matters," Valentina told her. "Her heart can't race when she's scared, or happy, or—"

"She has a sympathetic nervous system," Lupita informed her. "She doesn't have a…heart, per se, but she can feel fear, anger, arousal—normal human emotions and her body has been created to act accordingly."

"Excuse me?" Valentina spat, unable to help her curiosity though she was starting to feel sick.

"Her pupils dilate—as you've seen. She can become anxious, jittery, cheerful, mournful…sexually aroused."

Her eyebrow slowly rose at the last of her statement. "What kind of 'mother' are you, exactly?"

She looked wholly offended by what she was suggesting and frowned accordingly. "I created her to live the most fulfilling human life possible, detective Carvajal. The act of sex is essential to human interaction and building intimate, trusting relationships, and I would be remiss to ignore that. Wouldn't you agree?"

Whether she agreed or not was beside the point. "You can give her synthetic anything, Dr. Valdés, and she'll only be an android," Valentina declared with finality.

"Are humans not androids, detective Carvajal?" Lupita instantly countered with.

Valentina laughed hollowly at her statement. Where was this even going? "No."

Lupita’s eyes, dark and sharp, strayed to the chain with a cross dangling around her neck. Her head tilted in curiosity. "You think that you're better than a human created human because a divine being created you?"

Valentina's eye widened at the question, caught off guard. She cleared her throat, hands clenching at her side in discomfort at having her religion thrown so carelessly into this argument. "I was made of flesh, bone, and nerve endings, Dr. Valdés. Unless Juliana is made from those things and not synthetic flesh, hard, cold metal, and receptors capable of reading her surroundings and making her act accordingly, she isn't human."

Lupita’s lips pressed into a hard line of irritation. "She can taste, touch, feel—the same as you, detective. One can even argue that you can't even feel if the callous way she's told me you talk to her is any indication," Lupita stated coldly. "Tell me, Valentina, who's the real android: Juliana or you?"

Taken aback, Valentina gawked at her with a slackened jaw before every muscle in her face pulled rigid with tension. Her lips curled back as she opened her mouth to retort.

"Ma, stop."

Shock all the way to her bones made Valentina swivel around to find Juliana walking toward them. She was speed walking with determination lacing her every step before coming to a smooth stop a few feet away from Valentina. Consternation gripped her eyebrows and pulled them together as her eyes strayed from Valentina to Lupita.

"I can't believe you," Juliana said. Her voice trembled with every syllable and Valentina marveled at gestures she had taken for granted presenting themselves in Juliana. "Mom, I've begged you for days to tell me these things and you haven't."

Lupita looked flushed with guilt when Valentina's eyes strayed from Juliana to her. "These are meaningless facts," she tried to defend.

"They're meaningless to you because they don't apply to you," Juliana cried, and Valentina suddenly felt she was intruding on an odd family quarrel. "These nuances are my life, mother. You need to be honest with me!"

Juliana's voice was slowly gaining fervor the way it had right before she punched her fist into Valentina's wooden table a few days ago.

"Juliana—"

"No, ma, you can't just gloss over these things as if they don't mean anything!" Juliana shouted. "You've kept this from me for two years!"

Her voice was reaching levels Valentina was sure only dogs would be able to pick up on, but her brain tripped and fell over the last of Juliana's statement. Juliana was two years old, and Valentina gathered that she wasn't off the same line as the other replicants.

But as she watched the back and forth exchange between Juliana and Lupita, Valentina was sure she wouldn't get any more answers today.

"Excuse me," she cut in curtly.

Juliana visibly deflated at having been cut off. Lupita’s hands dropped at her side as they both focused on Valentina.

"This is clearly none of my business, and I have to report back to work anyway," she prefaced. She nodded in their direction as she took measured steps backward toward the door. "Good day to you both."

She spun on her heels to walk away when Juliana's, "I'll walk you out," caused her to falter, but only minutely as she continued out of the door. Juliana's footsteps, quiet in the pair of flats she wore, were barely heard behind her as Valentina stopped at the elevator. She leaned sideways to press the down button then straightened to find Juliana by her side.

"Allow me to apologize for how reckless my mother spoke to you, detective Carvajal," Juliana said quietly. She was back to normal, it seemed—if this could be considered normal for her.

Valentina brushed it off. "Don't worry about it."

The elevator doors parted, and Valentina stepped inside, followed by Juliana. They stood side by side once again in the elevator as Valentina leaned over to press the appropriate button for the ground floor.

"Can I ask you a question, detective?" Juliana's voice was heavy once more as she spoke.

"Sure."

Juliana turned to look up at Valentina. "Will you at least tell me when you plan to kill me?"

Valentina didn't bother correcting her word choice as she avoided Juliana's big eyes, focusing instead on the LED screen that counted down the number of floors. "You'll be last."

"And how many are left?"

"Four."

Juliana's gaze dropped to the carpeted floors in the elevator to consolidate this information. "Okay," she said softly.

The elevator came to a smooth stop on the ground floor and opened slowly. Valentina walked out with a sigh. "Have a good day."

Juliana stayed put in the elevator as the doors closed. "Goodbye, detective."

With one replicant down without casualties, morale around the precinct was steadily increasing. Thus far there were no reports of more deaths by replicant hands, which pleased the precinct, but puzzled Valentina. She began to wonder just what the replicants wanted, or if they were just content to spend the rest of their existence performing tasks they were meant to perform.

But she thought back to Guille who had lied to her when Valentina had asked why they were on Earth. Which in turn meant that they did have a purpose, one they were keeping a secret.

She was shaken out of her thoughts when the radio behind her on the window sill began reporting news that was actually worth listening to. Valentina scooted back from her desk on her roller chair, spinning around in it to turn up the radio.

"…in what has become our story of the week: a replicant was spotted shopping in our very own mall, Lima citizens. This may surprise some of you because, as far as we know, replicants are illegal on Earth. But we have several eye witnesses who have seen one. That's all we've heard so far, but we'll keep you posted when more information arrives. For now let's crack into this Top 40 with the next song—"

Valentina flipped the switch on her radio and stood from her seat. How she had predicted this days ago, she would never know. Perhaps replicants were predictable after all. Her coffee sat proudly on her desk, forgotten as she grabbed her gun and jacket to head out of her office. Eva's office was just two doors down and Valentina knocked on her door twice before opening it.

Blue eyes widened at what was before her. Eva was in her seat, scooting closer to a leggy blonde perched atop her desk with crossed legs that were slowly beginning to uncross. Valentina knocked once more, loudly, in order to stop what was happening before it could go any further.

Neither of them jumped as the woman on Eva's desk turned her head to see Valentina with impishly shining eyes. Eva craned her neck sideways to narrow her eyes at Valentina. "Damn it, Valentina, can't you see I'm busy?"

Valentina blinked at them in shock, before her shoulders pulled tight as she remembered why she was even there. "A replicant was spotted at the mall."

"When?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. It was recent—they just reported it on the radio."

Eva sighed as if put out and the woman on her desk giggled. She uncrossed her legs fully and placed her feet on the floor to stand to her full height. She swiveled on pointed toes to walk toward Valentina and the second she started moving, Valentina could tell she was a dancer. Every step was purposeful and graceful. She bounced to a full stop in front of Valentina with a giant grin. "I'm Hannah."

Suspicions confirmed, Valentina politely offered her hand. She flicked up an eyebrow in Eva's direction and Eva smugly folded her arms across her chest. "Told you she was hot."

Hannah smirked. "She's the super-hot one. You, too," she added as an afterthought.

"It's nice to meet you, Hannah," Valentina greeted.

Eva saddled up beside Brittany to sling an arm around her waist. "I gotta go, H. Lunch?"

Hannah’s arms draped around Eva's shoulders and she pulled her into a tight hug as if she'd never see her again. Valentina nearly gagged. "That'd be great! We should go to Taco Bell." When she pulled back there was a frown creasing her forehead as she backtracked with, "Well, maybe not Taco Bell. Lord Tubbington always has the runs after he eats the leftovers."

Valentina's expression became bemused as the feeling that she was intruding crept upon her.

"Lord Tubbington's my cat," Hannah explained to her with a warm smile. "You can meet him sometime if you want." She gasped suddenly as an idea struck her, and Valentina got the feeling that didn't happen often. "We should all have dinner tonight!"

Taken aback, Valentina instantly looked for a way out as Eva grinned at the closed off expression encroaching her features. "That sounds like a great idea, Hann. Val loves eating out."

Her jaw clenched at the needless double entendre, and Valentina was pretty sure she would never be able to face Hannah again. Plastering on a false smile, Valentina said to Hannah, "The idea sounds wonderful, Hannah, and I would love to. But I'm afraid I'll have to rain check on dinner beca—"

"Dinner?" Sergio poked his head into Eva's office. His eyes zeroed in on Hannah and it seemed that dinner was forgotten as he sized her up and sauntered into the office. "Hello, miss, can I get your name?"

"Yeah, Hannah—my girlfriend," Eva barked before Hannah had the chance to introduce herself.

Sergio rocked back on his heels to situate himself beside Valentina. "So—dinner?" he prompted.

Hannah grinned infectiously. "I'll see everyone tonight!"

Valentina kind of wanted to shoot them all, but the jumpsuits on death row were so last season.

The mall was predictably crowded when they arrived; it seemed that the replicant had attracted a younger crowd, the older crowd having dispersed. Valentina winded through the throng of people, cell phone glued to one ear with a finger jammed into the other one to better hear Sergio.

"Are you listening to the radio?" Valentina asked. Her gaze flicked to Eva shifting from foot to foot in impatience beside her.

"Yeah. Said she was looking for clothes at Rue21 earlier."

Bewilderment struck her as she ended the call. Valentina turned to Eva. "Apparently the replicant's been shopping."

"What—they care about their appearance now?" Eva griped snidely.

Valentina shrugged as she spun on her heel. "Rue21 is this way."

There was a boisterous crowd around the store by the time Valentina and Eva made it there. Tension in the air was excitement laced with fear, apprehension, and wonder.

"Police!" Eva shouted. "Move out of the way!" She muscled rudely through the crowd and Valentina, trying to keep as low of a profile as possible, silently followed behind on the off chance that the replicant in question was still lurking about.

There were two clerks behind the counter—teens if the abundance of acne was anything to go by. One was a boy, a tall brunette with gangly limbs and a slender figure. A girl who was much shorter stood off to the right with ruddy auburn hair. They both stood ramrod straight, color completely drained from their faces. Valentina approached the shaken pair with a disarming smile. "Hi, I'm detective Valentina Carvajal, blade runner. Are you all right?"

The pair nodded, though neither said a word. The girl fidgeted with the hem of her shirt while the boy bit his lip, eyes darting from Valentina to Eva.

"I just have a few questions to ask about the replicant you saw here." Valentina fished out a pen and pad from her coat pocket and fired off a question. "Could you describe the replicant in as much detail as possible? Male, female, black, white, short, tall—you get the point."

The crowd around the entrance of the store seemed to loom over the interview, and Valentina's eyes narrowed at the loud side conversations outside that she could pick up.

Eva turned to glower at them, and the man who was about to boldly stroll into the store came to an abrupt halt, an embarrassed smile making his lips tremble.

"Female," the girl behind the counter spoke with a nod and a shrug. Her gaze veered off to the left before she looked at Valentina again. "Latina."

"She was average built."

Valentina looked over toward Eva, then back to the boy who had just spoke. They didn't have pictures of the replicants and descriptions were very crucial.

“She,”

Eva stared directly at him, eyebrows knitting together in irritation. She was two seconds away from hopping over the counter and taking the six foot lanky boy to the badly designed carpet.

"She, what?" Valentina prompted with an edge of impatience.

The girl shifted behind the counter, then took small steps toward the counter top. She braced her hands on the glass edge and leaned closer. Her eyes were wide with fear that hadn't been as palpable several minutes ago when it was little more than nerves. "She's here," she whispered.

Blue eyes widened to mimic the girl's as Valentina stepped back from the counter. Her mouth flattened to a thin line as she looked toward Eva.

Eva stepped away from the counter completely. "Where?" she demanded quietly. She was learning.

Both of the clerks vaguely pointed toward the back of the store.

Valentina grabbed her gun, and silently motioned for the two store clerks to exit. She turned toward the back of the store with Eva and crept closer. There were tons of clothing racks all around the floor that could easily hide someone. Valentina and Eva winded around each one with their guns pointed, safety off. The floorboard creaked at Valentina's left and she spun around to find a sneakered foot creeping away. "I've found her!" she yelled to Eva as she chased after the replicant—Renata, as the radio had identified.

Valentina followed her toward the changing rooms, and rounded the corner only to be grabbed by her throat. Her eyes bugged out of her head the second Renata's hand closed around her windpipe.

"Val? Val, where'd you go?"

A garbled sound strangled from Valentina's throat as she tried to respond to Eva's distressed voice. Renata let go of Valentina's throat long enough to twist her around and slam her face against the glass mirrors that stretched the length of the hallway. Valentina winced at the painful rippling effect that shot through her head. She felt a hand press forcefully against her back, and held tight to her gun as Renata yanked back her arm while keeping a firm hand on her back.

Valentina cried out sharply at the sensation of her shoulder being pulled from its socket. She felt for her extremities which were starting to lose feeling and pulled the trigger of her gun behind her with tingling fingers. She didn't know where the bullet would go, but felt relieved when she heard Renata cry out. Renata stumbled, slumping toward the right, and Valentina guessed the bullet had pierced her leg. As far as Valentina knew, replicants were created without pain receptors, so the outcry from Renata was born more from shock and outrage than actual pain.

"Bitch!" Renata eyes narrowed as she stepped back and threw Valentina away from her. Valentina crumpled to the floor at Renata’s feet, gasping for air. Pain shooting through her shoulder caused spots of color to flash behind her eyelids. She blinked her eyes open to point her gun upward and Renata smacked her hand to send the gun flying across the store.

"Damn it!" Valentina growled. She drew her leg as far back as she dared and jabbed her booted foot into Renata's stomach. Renata grunted as she lost balance, stumbling several feet back and tripping on a chair in the hallway of the changing rooms to land on her back.

"Damn Amazon!" Eva called Valentina. She scooped down to hook her arms under Valentina's and lifted her up. "Powerful kick." Valentina winced with a whimper and gently pressed her fingertips into her shoulder blade to assess the damage. It felt spongy with swelling, and Valentina groaned in pain.

From across the room, Renata hopped back to her feet and Eva drew her gun.

"No," Valentina wheezed, throat still raw and surely bruising. "We have to take her in for questioning, so you can't retire her now."

"You got any better ideas?" Eva asked as Renata approached them.

Valentina's eyes strayed from Renata to the handcuffs on Eva's belt loop. "I'll be a decoy, you handcuff her, and we'll pray that the cuffs can hold out long enough for backup to get here."

Eva aimed her gun and shot Renata once in the shoulder to further incapacitate her enough for this halfcocked plan to work. "I did not sign up for this shit."  
——-

Valentina angled her compact mirror to the side, lifting her chin and elongating her neck to ensure that the bruise she had put make-up on earlier wasn't visible. Renata was in lock-up where she would remain over the weekend until Monday questioning. Valentina and Eva had managed to subdue her until the cops had arrived with minimal extra damage done.

From beside her, Sergio gently elbowed her. "Val, chill. Just enjoy yourself tonight and quit thinking about the job."

"The job gave me a bruised shoulder, Sergio," Valentina hissed back.

His eyes tightened as he eyed Valentina. Finally, he sighed. "I think I'm gonna ask Lucía to make me your partner again."

"Why?" Valentina couldn't help but ask.

"Because this case has really got you worried and we've got a long way to go until they're all retired. I don't want to see you get hurt any more than you already have."

"I can take care of myself."

Lucho eyed the two of them from across the table. When he couldn't hold his opinion anymore, he chimed in. "I also think Sergio should be your partner." Valentina shot him a cold look of betrayal, but he didn't back down. "I'd rather see Sergio come in with a bruised shoulder than you."

"Why—because I'm a girl?"

His mouth clacked shut. When it came to arguments like these he rarely won. "I'm just saying that I don't want you hurt."

"That Juliana chick hasn't visited you again, has she?" Sergio asked.

"What Juliana chick?" Eva cut in. She and Hannah both ended their side conversation to focus on Valentina. "You gotta girl?"

"No," Valentina answered before glaring up at Sergio. They stared at each other for a long moment before he sighed and went back to his meal.

"So, anyway, Hannah, tell me more about your smokin' hot dance troop," Sergio began.

Hannah nodded. "They're all smoking hot, but all we do all day is dance."

"Sounds hot."

Valentina could feel Eva's eyes on her, but she ignored it and cut into her piece of medium rare steak.

"…and sometimes Eva and I dance together."

"I don't think they need to hear about that, Han," Eva cut in.

Valentina picked up on her apprehension and smiled sardonically as her finger traced the lip of her wine glass. "Eva dances, you say?"

Eva shot Valentina a dirty look as Hannah flashed a bright smile. "She loves it! Sometimes we do ballroom—she's great at the tango."

Sergio rested both elbows on the table, chin in his hands with a shit-eating grin on his face. "I'd love to watch the two of you tango."

"You don't quit, do you?" Eva growled.

"I was just saying—"

"Han and I are not a show."

They argued back and forth, Sergio trying to keep from laughing in amusement at Eva's genuine anger, and Valentina watched the pair with a smug smile at her own ability to control conversations and steer the attention away from herself.

When she looked back over at Lucho, he was watching her intently, questions swirling in his gaze.

The long brown paper bag crumpled as she switched hands to press the appropriate button in the elevator. Lucho had needlessly bought her a bottle of Merlot to Sergio's amusement and Valentina's constant exasperation. If she wasn't his friend, she reasoned she would have told him where to go a long time ago. She leaned heavily against the railing in the back of the elevator and crossed one leg over the other. It had been a trying day to say the least. She felt rattled and sore, the looseness of her right shoulder blade had Valentina feeling as if one more tug would cause her right arm to pop right from its socket. And she needed that arm—she shot better with her right than her left.

Her heels clacked out of the elevator to become muffled on the carpeted floors of her apartment building. Her feet protested every step. Everything about her was sore and tired and more than anything Valentina wanted a bed and a good night's sleep. What she got instead made her halt in place.

Juliana was sitting on her doorstep like a stray dog, again.

Valentina's day long irritation heightened that much more at the sight of yet another replicant. Every muscle in her body pulled taut with tension as she stiffly walked toward her door. She came to a stop a few feet in front of Juliana, looking unimpressed. "You have got to stop doing this." She was too weary to be angry, though her eyes told a different story as they seemed to glare holes through Juliana.

Juliana stood to her full height and dusted off the back of her pants as she kept her eyes trained on Valentina, the pulled back hair exposing her long pale neck, the formal shirt and the tight slacks combo, and the heels on her feet that made Juliana look skyward to maintain eye contact. Juliana had never seen Valentina dressed like this and silently acclimated herself. She scanned Valentina's body once more for detail, then met her eyes. 

"Good evening, detective Carvajal. You look quite lovely."

"Thanks." Impeccable manners were just something Valentina couldn't shake, despite the fact that her eyes narrowed at Juliana on her doorstep. "I don't suppose you came all the way to my apartment…again just to compliment me, Valdés. What do you want?"

Juliana's hands wrung together in front of her and her eyes widened and rounded to soft circles. "May we talk inside? Please?"

Valentina stared at her for a long moment. Her neck, where Renata's fingers had been, throbbed in subdued pain compared to earlier. She ran her eyes critically over what Juliana was wearing— an oversized sweater and leggings combo with nike sneakrs that all combined to belie what Valentina knew lied just beneath the surface. She had just dealt with that particular brand of strength today. Eyes hardening in mistrust, Valentina walked toward the door.

Juliana took measured steps back to allow for personal space that humans seemed to treasure so much as Valentina unlocked the door. She followed silently inside and closed the door behind her. A light was flicked on and when she looked up, Valentina was watching her intently from across the room. She swallowed thickly. "Is something wrong, detective?"

Valentina sat the bottle of wine on the edge of the table. "What do you want, Juliana?"

"I…" Juliana went to respond, but trailed off when Valentina simply walked away from her. Juliana watched her as Valentina disappeared into the shadows at the back of her unlit apartment. She walked differently when in heels, Juliana noticed. There was a subtle sway in her gait that was much more tame any other time. Juliana's eyes then strayed around Valentina's living room. She had never taken the time to look at it the other times she was here, tears blurring her vision made it impossible to appreciate the trinkets all around Valentina's living room that alluded to money.

Valentina returned with the weight of her gun resting snugly in her hand. She peeled back its encasing and tossed it to the floor as she walked toward Juliana with more purpose.

Juliana looked away from the picture of Valentina as a child to find Valentina approaching her with coldness in her eyes. When Juliana looked down at the gun in Valentina's hand, she stiffened immediately and took a step back. "What are you—"

"I could have died today because of one of those skin-jobs. I'm not going to leave you to chance any longer."

Of their own volition, Juliana's hands rose above her head as if she were being arrested and not retired in Valentina's apartment. "What happened?"

Valentina took a step closer. When Juliana didn't hear the clacking of her heels her gaze dropped to find Valentina bare foot. Her eyes widened. "You promised me I'd be last," Juliana whispered forlornly. "Do promises not mean anything to you?"

"I value my life more than I value keeping promises to some skin-job," Valentina spat.

"I would never hurt you, detective Carvajal," Juliana murmured. "Though I wish I could say the same for you."

"My job isn't to 'not hurt' you, Valdés. You seem to be unable to comprehend that. I thought Lupita gave you a better processor than the others. Too bad that didn't seem to help, because you don't seem to get the fact that I will be retiring you."

A flicker of hurt crossed Juliana's features before her eyes narrowed in irritation. It was only a moment later that she quickly shot across the room and lunged at Valentina.

Valentina's breath whooshed out of her in surprise, but she recovered quickly as she grappled for the gun when Juliana's hand grabbed the barrel. Valentina held the grip firmly, and wrestled the gun higher out of Juliana's reach. She reached up with both hands to free it, and a carnal smile of triumph twisted her lips when Juliana grunted as she lost grip.

But then Valentina felt arms snake around her waist and hold her tightly. Fear chased down her spine as Juliana recklessly threw her weight forward, and they both crashed onto the floor. Valentina jerked her left shoulder forward to throw Juliana's weight off her, but her right shoulder protested the jerky movement and she cried out quietly as Juliana shoved her left shoulder back to the floor with the palm of her hand.

Valentina's gun lay heavy in her right hand, and she drew it up when Juliana straddled her hips.

Juliana caught the flash of shiny metal out of the corner of her eye and ducked sideways when Valentina pointed the gun at her. She grabbed Valentina's wrist firmly and wrestled it to the floor above Valentina's head as she grabbed the left one.

Valentina lay there panting as she squirmed under Juliana for any amount of leverage she could find. The more her sharp shoulder blade bumped against the unforgiving wooden floor, the more pain shot across Valentina's upper back, weakening her to someone who was already stronger. She looked up just as Juliana pinned both of her wrists to the floor to find Juliana staring at her plainly with a hint of irritation tightening her dark eyes. With a flick of her wrist Juliana sent the gun flying from Valentina's slackened grip and skirting across the floor.

The only sound in the entire apartment was Valentina's labored breathing as she lay below Juliana's sure grip on her. She was reluctantly compliant, unable to move a muscle as Juliana's strength pinned her to the floor.

Juliana opened her mouth to speak then shut it soundlessly. Her eyes narrowed into a squint as she leaned closer to stare at the expanse of Valentina's throat. "You have a bruise," Juliana murmured softly as if she hadn't spent the past few minutes fighting for her life and wrestling Valentina to the floor. "Who hurt you?"

Valentina jerked her head to the side, embarrassed to have Juliana see the bruise on her neck. She felt wholly defeated, in her own apartment no less. It quickly bled into agitation that clenched her teeth and tightened her jaw. "Get off me, Valdés."

Juliana just continued to stare down at her, dark eyes roving along Valentina's face. "I will not harm you, detective Carvajal. You don’t need to worry."

"And why the hell should I trust you?" Valentina snapped with blazing eyes that glowered up at Juliana.

"There hasn't been a time when I couldn't have killed you," Juliana explained with heaviness lacing her voice that pushed Valentina into the floorboards. Juliana looked guilty and chastened as she quietly said, "I could even kill you right now. But I won't," she quickly rushed out.

"Why?"

"I'm not a murderer."

"If you don't plan on killing me when why. Are. You. Here."

Juliana's gaze dropped subconsciously from Valentina's to veer off and stare at wooden floors. Valentina winced as her shoulder began to throb dully, but didn't say anything as Juliana licked her lips then bit her bottom one. "My mother and I—we're on the outs right now."

Valentina's eyebrow shot up along her forehead. That was a little unexpected. "Why?"

"That was actually what I came here to talk about." Juliana's lips quirked wryly. "Before you tried to kill me."

Valentina didn't bother to correct her statement as she stared at Juliana expectantly. "Let me up."

"I would say 'promise not to kill me', but you've already told me that your promises mean next to nothing." Juliana's tone carried a chill to it as she released Valentina's wrists. She leaned up on her haunches and stared down at Valentina with apprehension as she brushed her hair from her face.

Valentina's shoulder popped and she winced as she sat up.

"Are you all right?" Juliana whispered. Her breath hitched when Valentina leaned up fully until they were nose to nose.

"Get. The fuck. Off of me," Valentina stated calmly.

Juliana scrambled to her feet. She held out a hand for Valentina then eyed her in reproach when Valentina snubbed it to stand up on her own. "You were not this rude to me earlier," Juliana noted.

"That was before one of your kind tried to kill me today."

"Does your kind not commit acts of violence against one another every single day?" Juliana rhetorically asked. "And you don't pass judgement on every human you meet, do you?"

A burning sensation could be felt in her aching shoulder, and Valentina struggled to resist the urge to massage it with her left hand, not wanting to seem weak in front of Juliana. "Have a seat."

Juliana looked startled by the abrupt change in conversation. "Why?"

Valentina sighed. "Because it's been a long day. I'm tired, and I would like to sit down."

Juliana spied a couch to the right and, with her gaze firmly locked on Valentina, she walked toward it and slowly sat down. "Please leave the gun where it is," she requested.

"And if I don't?" Valentina shot back defiantly.

Guilt once again crossed Juliana's features. "I would hate a repeat of what occurred just minutes ago."

To Valentina's astonishment it wasn't a threat, but rather a genuine plea from Juliana. She didn't seem to like throwing her weight around.

Valentina walked to the couch that rested along the wall adjacent to the wall the couch Juliana sat on rested against. She tucked her tired feet under her and leaned heavily against the arm of the couch. She opened her mouth to once again ask why Juliana was paying an unwelcomed visit, when Juliana's soft voice shattered the quiet of the room.

"I really do wish you would like me, detective Carvajal." Juliana looked over at Valentina.

"What's wrong—never had anyone dislike you, Valdés?" Valentina asked patronizingly.

"No, actually. I have not."

"Well, get used to it. That's what happens in the real world. Some people like you, some don't."

Juliana's thighs pressed tightly together as she sat stiff on the edge of the couch, her hands wringing together. "I suppose so. However, I would appreciate it if you specifically liked me."

Valentina paused for a moment to take in Juliana's nervous posture. "Why?" she finally asked, and Juliana's shoulders immediately shrugged.

"I don't have very many—any friends. And I thought I had finally made one in you."

Valentina laughed dubiously without a hint of humor. "You've got to be kidding me."

Incensed, Juliana's chin lifted. "I find no humor in this situation, detective Carvajal."

"I'm going to retire you," Valentina explained needlessly. "Hell, you don't even know my first name, and you think that we're friends? Juliana, come on."

"I've recently been informed that I'm not human, detective," Juliana said quietly. "Everything I've ever known—my memories are quite literally a lie. I have an expiration date looming over my head because you want to kill me." She looked up at Valentina with a watery, beseeching smile. "Allow me to indulge in a few things, will you?"

Valentina inhaled a deep breath and leaned back into the couch. She remained silent as her eyes trained hard on Juliana.

"May I know your first name?" Juliana inquired after a moment.

She hesitated for a moment, biting down on her lip. "Valentina," she finally answered.

"How many friends do you have?" This felt like role-reversal of the first time they had met a few weeks ago. Juliana was the one asking all the questions now.

"Two."

"That's not very many," Juliana concluded, and Valentina rolled her eyes.

"Whatever."

"What are their names?"

Valentina's expression became closed off. "That's classified."

"I see. Perhaps I can be your third friend, and you'll be my first."

The conversation was completely ludicrous, and it unnerved Valentina that she would probably remember this long after Juliana was gone.

"What are your parents like?"

Valentina remained quiet for a long moment. Her lips twisted in thought over the question as she unconsciously leaned back into the couch. "They aren't that great," Valentina finally settled on.

"At least they're real, though, and not some false implanted memory," Juliana grumbled.

Valentina pressed her elbow into the arm of the couch and rested her chin in her hand. "Why are you and Lupita fighting?"

Juliana gawked at her as if it were obvious. "She’s been lying to me for two years!" she cried. "I still don't know what to do with the fact that I'm not human. I don't know what I am, or where I fit in—I doubt I fit in anywhere."

"You're a replicant," Valentina stated, voice much more calm and contained than Juliana's was at the moment. "You're—"

"I know that," Juliana sighed. "I just don't—I don't know…"

Juliana's inability to form an identity for herself oddly put Valentina in the mind of her teenage years where she went from good Christian school girl cheerleader, to sleeping with one of her friends, to this weird punk phase her mother would never let her live down, to sleeping with a girl. At age twenty-one, she still kind of had no idea who she was, but she had put the angst to the side to actually make a living considering she could no longer rely on her parents' money.

Sitting here listening to Juliana's disgruntled rambling was like listening to a less angry with the world version of herself from years ago.

"Make friends with replicants."

Juliana shot Valentina a sharp look. "My brethren do not make the best of friends."

"They lack personality," Valentina agreed.

"I don't," Juliana responded.

Valentina was less readily to agree verbally, though with reluctance she was starting to see more human characteristics inside of Juliana.

"Look," Valentina started, "I'm sure Lupita meant no harm by lying to you about what you truly are."

"I know she meant no harm," Juliana admitted. "But that doesn't change the fact that she did in fact lie to me about the most important aspect of my life." Her eyes closed as she leaned her head back into the chocolate colored couch. She inhaled the scent of Valentina's apartment deeply. When her eyes opened again, they were troubled as she stared at the ceiling. "I do not wish to be around her right now, that's all."

"So, why did you come here?"

Her head lolled to the side to find Valentina staring at her with intent.

"I just—I need someone honest in my life right now."

Valentina was at least that when it came to Juliana, to a fault most of the time. But this was the first time Juliana wasn't in hysterics with a waterfall of tears streaming down her face, and as long as Valentina could see her gun halfway across the room, she didn't mind lying to herself and thinking that if Juliana tried something sneaky she would be able to retire her right now.

It was the only thing keeping her remotely at ease as a replicant sat in her living room, talking a mile a minute.


	4. Chapter 4

Everything was pitch black around her as Valentina's eyes clenched shut. Lucho was prodding around her bruised shoulder for damage and every few pokes had her seeing pain-filled stars behind her eyelids. 

There was no irreparable damage, just swelling, and hopefully no nerve damage. Nothing a few extra days of taking it easy wouldn't cure. But it was hard to take it easy in her line of work.

She had gone to church today—the first time in over a month. Sometimes she got too busy, and subsequently too tired, for early rise services. But she had spent the weekend twirling the cross necklace that Dr. Valdés had been staring at when she prompted her with her instigating question between her fingers, and found herself driving to church at quarter to eight this morning.

Valentina released a shuddery breath as Lucho's fingers moved to the less inflamed portion of her shoulder.

"Doesn't hurt here?" he asked, picking up on the tension leaving her body.  
"No," Valentina managed.  
He nodded behind her, though she couldn't see, and took a step back. "All done." The air around them smelled of Icy Hot, and Lucho absentmindedly rubbed the remainder of the cream on his jeans as Valentina pulled her shirt down. "You should be good to go by tomorrow."

Valentina's smile was tentative as she turned around to toss her legs over the side of the bed. Her socked feet landed soundlessly on the floor as Lucho sat down beside her. "Thanks," she said.  
Lucho smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. He turned towards Valentina, a perplexed expression on his face. "Who's Juliana?"  
Valentina exhaled slowly. She knew he had been sitting on the question all weekend, but didn't think he would ever work up the courage to ask her. "Just some girl I met—nobody, really."

"You like her?"

"No."

Lucho's sigh rattled his whole body. Disappointment showed clearly in his voice as he asked, "So, you can tell Sergio about her, but you can't tell me?"

"Lucho—"

"I mean, I hadn't even heard about this girl until a couple of days ago during dinner when it slipped out." His eyebrows knitted in irritation. "Were you even going to tell me?"  
Valentina bit down on her lower lip as she contemplated the question.  
Lucho responded before she could. "You and Sergio are closer than you and I are."  
Affronted, Valentina finally seemed to find her voice. "That's not true," she defended.  
"It is," Lucho insisted. "The two of you have been closer since…you know."  
The you know in question was the moment Sergio and Valentina had slept together. There had been a subtle shift in the dynamic of their three person friendship ever since that Valentina didn't want to admit to herself, and Sergio had never taken the time to notice. But that seemed to always be the case in which there was one girl in a friendship with two boys, dynamics would always shift because whether the boys would openly admit it or not, they both staked claim on the girl. And the feminist in Valentina worked hard to squash Sergio and Lucho's pissing contests whenever they presented themselves. To this day she asked herself why she had chose to be friends with those two instead of the twin girls down the street from her house who lived with their lesbian mother, and—oh. She remembered now. Her parents didn't let her.

"Yeah, things changed, because you stopped looking at me as a friend and started looking at me as someone you wanted to fuck," Valentina stated plainly.  
Lucho's eyes grew large. "No. No, things changed because you and Sergio got closer, because you slept together, and—"  
"Enough!" Valentina shouted. It was an old argument that had presented itself in many different ways over the last five years. "It wasn't even…good," she explained. She watched Lucho's shoulders slumped and sighed. "Lucho, look, it wasn't like—I—"  
"You slept with Sergio because you didn't want me. It was fucked up, Val."  
Valentina threw her hands up in frustration. "Yes—okay? It was fucked up. But you know what? We were children, Lucho. It wasn't about you; it was about my parents, and me wanting to get back at them for trying to control my life. I used Sergio," Valentina emphasized. "He could handle it because all he really cared about was sex." Her entire face twitched with tension as her eyes blazed into Lucho's. "Can we move past it, please?" All she could think about now was Dr. Valdés suggesting she was an android, cold and unfeeling—that was what she had felt like when she had slept with Sergio. He was a means to an end, a logical choice in her head at the time to get her parents off her back. There was nothing flowery about it, and Valentina now sat on her bed and vaguely wondered if she was capable of feeling at all.  
She had had a boyfriend in high school who had once asked her if she was capable of feeling anything. And her super smart, valedictorian ex-girlfriend in private loved to psycho analyze her all day long.  
And to this day she kind of didn't know if she could feel. Whatever.

Lucho's lips twisted up as they always did when he was feeling particularly chastened. "All I wanna do is be close to you again, Valentina. You're the one who's making it difficult."  
"We hang out all the time, Lucho." She felt tired and heavy suddenly and wanted him to leave.  
"I ask you who that girl is and you brush it off when it's obvious that there's more to her than 'just some girl you met'. If she was 'just some girl' then Sergio wouldn't have asked if she had visited you again, which implies that she's visited you at least once before already." When Valentina didn't respond, his expression turned smug. "Just tell me who she is. Why can't I know?"  
Valentina ran her fingers through her hair in frustration, and sighed. "Because it's classified, and has to do with my job—that's why Sergio knows and you don't."  
Lucho nodded once in understanding. "So—what, she's like, a witness, or something?"  
"Or something."  
His lips quirked upward. "So, you're not into her?"  
Valentina rolled her eyes. "I've already answered that question."  
"So, if I showed up to your apartment tomorrow night with flowers, you'll go out with me?"

Her eyes squinted as she wondered how someone so dense had managed to become a competent intern. Valentina stood from the bed to place her hands on her hips as she looked down at Lucho. Her voice was sickeningly sweet as she said to him, "I'm only going to say this one more time, do you understand?"  
With a thick swallow, Lucho nodded his head.  
Valentina braced her hands on his shoulders. "Lucho," she stated sternly. "I'm not going to date you. Ever."

"Is it because I'm not a fuck up?"  
Her jaw clenched. "It's because we're best friends. Look, this is how your life is going to work. You're going to become a successful doctor and meet an equally successful surgeon whom you're going to marry. Sergio's going to be your best man and you'll make your future fiancée make me her maid of honor, because I won't settle for a bridesmaid roll." He chuckled quietly, and Valentina smiled. "You'll have platinum blonde children, and live happily ever after."

"And I can't have platinum blonde children with you, because?"

Valentina arched an eyebrow. "Besides the fact that I'm technically no longer blonde?"  
Lucho sighed. "It's because I'm too normal for you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"  
He reached up to pat the hand on his shoulder in placation. "Face it, Val, you don't want what comes easy to you. You like to suffer in just about every aspect of your life, love included." 

Valentina pulled back and stood straight to glare down at him, and Lucho smirked. "You're like, an artist, or something. You can't love without a little suffering, and since you won't suffer with me, you don't want me."  
"Whatever you have to tell yourself to better accept this rejection," Valentina shot back with narrowed eyes.

Lucho stood to his full height, and Valentina's eyes rose to keep him in her line of sight. "I should probably go—early day tomorrow." He made to move around her then paused. "We should hang out soon, just the two of us. Not like, a date or anything, but…pizza, movies?"  
"After the times I've had at work some normalcy would be good," Valentina agreed. 

"I'll walk you out."

They walked through the dark, narrow hallway into the dimly lit living room. Valentina held the door open and watched Lucho disappear behind the elevator doors. She closed her door once he was gone and rested heavily back against it with a long exhale, wondering when, why and how she had become as fucked up as he had described. Though, Lucho would never call it fucked up; he would just call it being Valentina.  
Which possibly made it even more fucked up.

Valentina was perplexed when she walked into the precinct and Sergio's black eye was the first thing she saw. Then, she was slightly amused. "What happened to you?"  
"Renata has a mean right hook. Kinda hot, though, not gonna lie," he admitted.

"So, you interviewed her?"

Sergio tipped his head in the direction of his office, and Valentina followed behind. His office was pretty juvenile, with a miniature basketball hoop attached to the wall above the trashcan. Though his office was less broody than Valentina's was. His overhead light was almost always on, unlike Valentina's, and he typically kept the blinds open. Valentina sat in front of Sergio's desk as he sat behind it. "This is awesome, right? I feel like one of those uppity business execs."  
Valentina shook her head with a quiet chuckle. "Just get to the point, Sergio."  
Sergio clasped his hands together on his desk to appear business-like. "She won't talk much. She won't tell where the others are. But we put out a picture of her in the newspaper, and a witness came forward to say that she and three other guys—replicants—have been staying at this hotel on Carson street."  
"Has this witness provided sketches of the others?"  
Sergio shook his head. "She said she doesn't try to make eye contact because she knows their replicants, so she just keeps her head low and goes about life."

"How have the replicants been paying for the hotel room?" Valentina asked next, and Sergio shrugged.  
"Renata didn't say. You think they're scaring hotel managers into putting them up for a few days and keeping it quiet?"  
"Dave said he paid Guille enough money for a hotel room," Valentina mused. "But it's possible that four replicants could scare a hotel manager into giving them a free room. Seems like everyone is so hush-hush about it, though."  
"Not everyone. We've got two people admitting to seeing a replicant. We just need to ask around more."  
"I think we should make a trip to that hotel," Valentina muttered.  
Sergio leaned back in his eat with a grin. "That'd be fun."  
Valentina ran her fingers through her hair and leaned back in her seat. She eyed the bruise around Sergio's eye and became even more impatient to finally get this case over with. 

"Did Renata express emotions at all?"

Sergio's eyes grew wide at the question. "Yeah, anger."  
Valentina stood abruptly. "I'm going to talk to her."  
"I don't think that's a good idea," Sergio told her as he followed her out of his office.  
"Why not?"  
"Because you always end up bruised when you mess with those things."  
"Yeah, so do you."  
"Touché," he mumbled.  
"I just want to see her…emotions," Valentina responded.

Valentina walked into the interrogation room despite Sergio's protests to find Renata walking from one end of the room to the other, pacing. She looked deep in thought and didn't even acknowledge Valentina when she walked in. Her hands were pulled behind her back with handcuffs hindering movement of her arms, and Valentina guessed someone wised up after Renata punched Sergio in the eye.

Valentina felt for her gun in the waistband of her jeans. "I'm going to retire you," she stated calmly, gauging her reaction.  
Renata looked over at her with haunted eyes and just told her, "Then do it."

It had been coached into Valentina from the very beginning not to take work home with her, not to take any part of her job to heart. But as she looked at the defeated, almost relieved expression on Renata’s face before firing her gun, she knew that this was something she would never forget.

Having something the equivalent of an unfeeling toaster oven look at you with relief in its eyes…well, it was something that would be unforgettable.

To Valentina's utter astonishment Juliana wasn't on her doorstep when she came home. Without thought, Valentina raised her left wrist to check the time on her watch to that, yes, this was in fact when she normally got home. Valentina ignored Juliana's lack of presence, and sauntered up to her door to open it. She closed the door behind her and flicked on the light on the table beside the couch.  
It felt odd to have the house to herself once more after work, but wholly needed as Valentina lied back on the couch, slinging an arm across her forehead as her eyes closed.  
There was a series of knocks on the door that made Valentina pop up from her lying position on the couch. She blinked her bleary eyes to find that she had fallen asleep. Standing up, she practically stumbled on groggy legs to the door, half-wondering if it was Juliana, which exasperated her already. 

She rose to the tips of her toes to stare out of the peephole. It was Sergio, standing on her doorstep with one hand jammed into the pocket of his jeans and the other holding two boxes of pizza and what looked to be a small serving of wings. Relief washed over Valentina as she lowered to land evenly on her feet and open the door.  
Sergio grinned. "This is normally how flicks start."  
Valentina scoffed and grabbed the food from his arms. "Unfortunately for you, you're not my type."  
Sergio closed the door behind him and followed her into the kitchen. "Fortunately for you, you're mine."

Valentina walked to the corner of the kitchen to place the pizza on the table. She looked up to find Sergio looking down with a confused frown. "What?" she asked.  
Sergio traced over the indentation in her table, fingers touching the pointed, splinted wood. 

"What the hell happened?"

Valentina looked down at her once new and pristine table with a frown. "Juliana happened," she muttered and turned away.  
"What do you mean, she happened?" Sergio turned to face her and Valentina spun around from the counter across the room to face Sergio.

"She got angry and punched the table." Which weirdly amused Valentina to reflect back on considering how…docile Juliana was the vast majority of the time. "I thought I told you that."  
Sergio glanced down at the table then back to Valentina. "Are you sure she's never put her hands on you, Val?"  
"She hasn't," Valentina answered with automatically, ignoring several days ago when Juliana effortlessly pinned her to the floor to keep from being retired. She really didn't want to fight about this right now. "She's…harmless."

"A harmless replicant?" Sergio asked.  
"She sat on my couch the other day and talked my head off," Valentina deadpanned. "Yeah, I'd say she's harmless."  
For some reason Sergio laughed with a shake of his head. "Only you, Valentina, only you would make friends with some crazy replicant."  
Valentina rolled her eyes. "It's not like she gave me a choice."  
"She's really never tried to kill you?"  
"Not once," Valentina admitted. "Weird, I know."

Sergio was quiet, studying her for a moment. "Do you think she's a pleasure model?"  
"Shut up, Sergio." She turned back to the cabinets to grab some plates when someone knocked on her door.  
"Ms. Popular tonight," Sergio teased as Valentina spun around with a confused frown.  
"It better not be my landlord," Valentina grumbled as she walked to the door.  
She opened the door to find Juliana standing there in a pair of heels and a trench coat. An eyebrow rose along Valentina's forehead as she hoped Juliana was wearing something more than that. 

"I hope you're wearing something more than that."

Juliana's smile was shy and nervous as she fretted with her damp hair. "I just got off work. And it's raining really hard outside," she responded, explaining the need for her coat, and her shoes.  
"I should have known you'd show up sooner or later."  
"You were hoping I'd visit?" Juliana's smile turned hopeful almost immediately.

"No."

"Hey—Val, who's at the door?"  
Valentina stiffened, having forgotten that Sergio was in the kitchen. She looked back at Juliana to find a frown marring her face. "You have someone over," Juliana murmured.  
"A friend of mine," Valentina supplied, not really knowing why she had just explained herself.

"Oh." Juliana's face fell completely, and Valentina wondered if the girl had a handle on her own facial expressions. Juliana's lips quirked into a wry smile. "One of the two, huh? Well, I apologize for intrud—"  
"Valentina, what the hell's taking so long?"  
Juliana's eyes veered to the left and Valentina turned around to find Sergio walking toward them. His eyes widened like a kid in a candy store at the sight of Juliana as he approached them. "Valentina, who's your friend?"  
Juliana beamed at being called Valentina's friend.  
"This is—"  
"I'm Sergio," Sergio stated, cutting Valentina off. He reached out a hand, and Juliana stared at him for a moment before placing her hand in his. Sergio smiled lopsidedly and placed a kiss on the back of Juliana's hand. "Ladies call me Serg."  
"Sergio," Juliana greeted, to Valentina's slight amusement. "It's a pleasure to meet one of Valentina's friends. I'm Juliana Valdés."

Valentina watched slow recognition flicker in Sergio's eyes. His jaw tightened as his gaze floated to Valentina then back to Juliana again. "You should come inside."

Valentina's lips pursed in confusion at Sergio's unexpected response. Juliana looked from Sergio to Valentina, then nodded. "I'd love to, as long as I'm not intruding."  
Sergio grinned and stepped aside to allow her entry. "Nonsense, babe."

Juliana's steps were full of hesitation as she walked into Valentina's apartment. Valentina shot Sergio a glare of confusion and irritation as she closed the door behind them. Sergio walked forward through the house. "We were just in the kitchen about to eat pizza and chicken wings."

Juliana's gaze once again washed over Valentina's living room as she silently followed Sergio. She hadn't been in the kitchen in a while and froze when her eyes landed on the table across the room, the indentation of her fist still there.  
Valentina brushed past her, knowing what Juliana was staring at, but offering no words of encouragement to make her more comfortable.  
"Got some punch, I heard," Sergio spoke into the silence with an impressed smirk on his face. He seemed to be at ease with Juliana, which Valentina could not for the life of her comprehend.

At his words, Juliana stepped further into the room. She stood hovering over the corner of the table as her fingers ghosted over the splintered wood. Her hair wipped over one shoulder as she turned around to face Valentina. "I really am sorry for this," she whispered. "I was—that's never happened to me before."  
She looked genuinely ashamed, to which Valentina just sighed and grabbed three plates from the cabinet, because dealing with replicants that had genuine emotions and not those on and off switch predecessors of Juliana was just plain confusing and more than Valentina bargained for. Yet threatening to shoot Juliana at point blank range didn't seem to scare her off, and Valentina didn't really know what to do anymore. This was strictly a fly by the seat of her pants zone, and Valentina hated it.

"Do you eat?" Valentina asked after a moment, honestly curious. She had never encountered a replicant in a domestic setting in which sitting down to dinner would apply.  
Juliana glanced away from the table to Valentina. She eyed the plates in Valentina's hand, then met her eyes. "Strictly for pleasure—I've recently learned that I'm capable of surviving without food."  
Valentina tilted her head in curiosity, but Sergio spoke first as he opened the two boxes of pizza resting on the table and turned them toward Juliana. "Pepperoni or cheese? We've got chicken wings, too."  
"I don't eat animals," Juliana mumbled absentmindedly as she stared at the pizza, and Valentina shot Sergio a bemused look.  
"Why?" Valentina couldn't help but ask.  
Juliana turned to her. "It just seems…inhumane."  
Valentina's jaw tightened as Juliana turned back to survey the pizza. A replicant with a conscience? Valentina sighed. She walked forward to thrust a plate into Juliana's hands. "Eat the pizza then, though I should warn you that they contain ingredients that are byproducts of animals. And please try not to judge us too harshly when we sink our teeth into these wings."

As if on cue, Sergio grabbed one and shoved the whole chicken wing into his mouth. Juliana watched with a head tilt as he chewed it around for a few seconds before producing a cleaned bone from his mouth. Her eyes widened and she did something that made Valentina stiffen completely—she giggled.  
Sergio smiled smugly and plopped down on the seat behind him once Valentina handed him a plate. "That's not all this mouth can do," he promised Juliana with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

Valentina was beyond exasperated by the time all three of them sat down and began to eat. Juliana had chosen a cheese pizza—which she had eagerly informed everyone was her first slice ever. Sergio was predictably shocked, though Valentina was less so; she was beginning to suspect that Juliana had lived a sheltered two and a half years.  
"So, are you a pleasure model?" Sergio asked after his third slice of pizza when Valentina and Juliana were just finishing their firsts.  
Valentina had been in the process of biting her last piece of crust, when she straightened completely to glare at Sergio. This had been his angle all along, the reason he was suddenly so comfortable with having Juliana around. Valentina barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

Juliana stiffened to look visibly uncomfortable as her eyes dropped to the crust on her plate. Soft curls had fallen out of her hair due to the rain, and her hair clung to her neck and around her shoulders. "I would much prefer to not talk about that," she said quietly.

Taken aback, Sergio leaned back in his seat and shot Valentina a very confused what'd I say? look.  
Valentina cleared her throat and went in for a second slice of pizza. "Do you want another one, Juliana?" She knew awkward dinner conversation when she saw it, having had enough of it when she was growing up, and there was no way in hell she would let it happen in her own apartment.  
Juliana raised her head with a grateful smile that she beamed at Valentina. "I would—thank you." She grabbed hold of a slice of pizza offered to her, and Valentina eyed her curiously.

It wasn't proper dinner conversation and her parents would probably have had her beheaded if they knew the question she was about to ask while everyone was eating dinner. "Does your body dispose of…waste?" Valentina asked lowly as if half-way across town her parents could hear.  
Puzzlement gripped Juliana and tilted her head, furrowing her brow. "Waste?"  
"She means, do you piss and shit?" Sergio supplied around an entire bird wing in his mouth.

Juliana's face balled up at his choice of wording as understanding dawned on her. She turned to Valentina and shook her head. "I do not, no. I have no use for such…actions. If and when I eat my body utilizes all aspects of what I consume—there is no waste."  
"Aren't you eco-friendly?" Valentina found herself teasing without missing a beat.  
To her surprise, Juliana smiled in amusement as she conceded with, "We are in the twenty-first century, Valentina. I think it's high time we start saving the world instead of injuring it, wouldn't you agree?"

Valentina groaned. "You sound like an infomercial."  
"So, what do you do all day, Juliana?" Sergio asked in an attempt to be included in the conversation. Valentina shot him a sharp look for what he was obviously trying to do, and for some reason she disapproved. The last thing Juliana needed was to be getting mixed up in Sergio when she was already confused about her own identity. Though when Valentina suddenly became an expert on what Juliana did and didn't need, she didn't know. Her jaw worked back and forth as she tried her hardest not to butt in, because this was Juliana's…for lack of a better term: life, and she could do what she wanted with it. While she still had one.  
"I help create replicants," Juliana replied. "Everyone has their own job, within and outside of the corporation. I ensure that their mannerisms are as 'human' as possible before they are to be shipped off into space."

A replicant teaching other replicants how to be human. This got weirder and weirder.  
"But your job is over now, right?" Sergio asked, switching from a wannabe suitor to blade runner in an instant.  
"For now."  
"Forever," Valentina cut in. "You guys aren't allowed to make any more replicants, and if we find out that you are, then we're hauling all of you into jail."  
"I suppose that doesn't matter in my case, does it?" Juliana shot back. "Considering I'll be dead soon."

Valentina's eyes narrowed at her audacity, but she chose not to comment.  
"Okay," Sergio drawled in the deafening silence. His gaze flicked to the clock above the sink that ticked just a little too loudly, and he stretched in his seat. "Anyway, I gotta go. Gotta get some sleep before work tomorrow."

"Grab your plate," Valentina intoned authoritatively when he just left it sitting on the table. With a huff, he reached back to grab it and emptied it in the trashcan before tossing it in the sink. Valentina stood, and Juliana felt the need to stand as well. "I'll walk you out."  
Sergio saddled up beside Juliana as Valentina turned away from the table to empty her own plate. "Want to come home with me, Ms. Valdés?"

Valentina practically gagged as she deposited her dish in the sink.  
Juliana's gaze strayed to Valentina, then back to Sergio. "Actually, I would like to stay here with Valentina."

"But I'm so much more fun," Sergio insisted with a lustful glint in his eye.  
Valentina turned around and leaned back against the sink with her arms folded. She watched the way Juliana smiled indulgently at Sergio and pried her hand from his. "I would much prefer to stay here. Thank you for the offer, though, Sergio."

Sergio angled his head toward Valentina, and she had a smug smirk on her face; he wasn't turned down often, and she relished this moment.

"Fine, fine," he conceded, stepping away. He shot Valentina a dry look and walked out of the kitchen, grumbling, "I'll let myself out."  
The door shut, putting Valentina on hyper alert that she was once again alone in her apartment with a replicant that apparently was 'not a murder.' As if she could actually trust that.  
"How long have you been friends with him?" Juliana asked as she leaned back against the table, incidentally on the indentation she had created in it.  
Valentina held her post by the kitchen sink with her arms folded across her chest. "Since we were children."  
"I can't imagine you as a child, Valentina," Juliana admitted with a chuckle.  
Valentina rolled her eyes. "I liked it better when you referred to me as detective Carvajal."  
Juliana's eyes actually twinkled playfully as she said, "That's too bad, because I really like your name."

Valentina remained silent for a long moment as she studied Juliana. Finally, she asked, "Why didn't you leave with Sergio?"  
"I-I'm sorry?" Juliana stammered.  
"You heard me," Valentina accused. "Why didn't you go home with him?"  
"I am not interested in him," Juliana stated plainly. "Nor do I know him. I do not mean to offend as he is your friend, but he's…forward and abrasive—"  
Valentina's laugh cut her off. "You don't have to explain those things to me. He is all of those things."  
"The two of you are nearly polar opposites. Though, you are abrasive in your own way, but not nearly as forward," Juliana mused.  
Valentina pushed off the sink with a glare in Juliana's direction. "Tell me how you really feel," she replied dryly as she walked out of the kitchen.

Juliana followed behind, stopping at the threshold and looking down the dark hallway opposite of where Valentina was going. "Is your bedroom back there?" Juliana asked curiously as she followed Valentina into the living room.  
Valentina nodded as she rested on the couch. Juliana sat on the other one in a redo of several nights ago, and Valentina wondered if this, too, was going to become a pattern.  
"What's it look like?"  
"Very bland," Valentina admitted indolently.  
Juliana rested her chin in her hand and leaned against the arm of the couch. "My room is very colorful. My mother teases me and says I'm a child."

The corner of Valentina's mouth twitched. "You kind of are."  
"I am not," Juliana argued. "I come and go around town as I please—"  
"Recently."  
Juliana ignored that tidbit from Valentina. "I have a job. I have a friend."  
"You're two years old."  
"And a half. Besides, physically, I'm an adult, and mentally, I'm an adult."  
It was kind of humorous, watching Juliana get all riled up over her age, like a child. Except, she was right, in a sense. Physically she was an adult, as well as mentally—she was capable of adult concepts, verbose, had an age appropriate vocabulary. But every once in a while she would ask Valentina questions like what's your bedroom look like? and instead of it being flirty innuendo, it was a genuine question asked with wide eyes and child-like curiosity.

"Have you ever been skating?"

Valentina shook out of her thoughts to find Juliana staring expectantly at her. "I'm sorry?"  
"I researched what humans do for recreational enjoyment and skating—particularly ice skating—looked quite enjoyable."  
"Ice skating's a lot of fun," Valentina mumbled, thrown back into her childhood without her consent.  
"We should go sometime," Juliana concluded, logically.  
"What is this, some kind of bucket list?"  
Juliana's expression turned quizzical. "I'm not familiar with that term."  
Valentina waved it off. "Never mind. And, I don't…really know about this."  
"But we're friends," Juliana murmured. Her bottom lip jutted out instantaneously, and Valentina stared, flabbergasted, at the pout elongating her face and widening her dark eyes until they caught the light overhead and shimmered. "Friends hang out."

She looked like a doll, and objectively, Valentina could admit with reluctance in the private crevices of her own mind that she had never seen a replicant as beautiful as Juliana. She wondered just how long Lupita had spent on her, and whether she modeled her after someone.

Juliana's words reminded Valentina a lot about Lucho and his whining from yesterday.  
Valentina gripped the arm of her chair and stood swiftly. "I'm tired." She gazed at Juliana pointedly until Juliana stood from the couch. She briefly caught sight of Juliana's outfit as Juliana pulled the ends of her trench coat together and tied her belt, and it occurred to Valentina that her manners had largely failed her. She had never taken Juliana's coat when she walked in.

"I hope you have a wonderful night, Valentina," 

Juliana said as she walked out of the apartment. She spun around as soon as she was out of the door to gaze up at Valentina with murky brown eyes the same color as Valentina's couch.

"You, too," Valentina mumbled, because it was the polite thing to do.  
But Juliana's face lit up nonetheless. "I hope to see you again soon, Valentina. You're an intriguing person."

When Valentina didn't offer up a response, Juliana just smiled once more before backing up and turning to hurry toward the elevator. Once she was out of sight, Valentina closed the door. She leaned back against it and breathed a sigh of relief for the fact that she was still alive.  
———-

"What did you and my future mistress do last night?"  
Valentina ignored the majority of Sergio's question and took a sip of her coffee. "Talked."  
"About me?"  
Her eyes scrunched up in the telltale sign that she was gaining pleasure at another's expense. "If that floats your sinking boat."  
Sergio scowled. "She likes you," he begrudgingly admitted. "Don't know why, though. You keep threatening to retire her. This is like, some Stockholm Syndrome shit."  
Valentina shifted uncomfortably. "Except, I haven't taken her hostage. If anything, she's taken my life hostage by showing up at my apartment all the time."  
"I'm so coming over more often."  
"Don't."  
A knock on the door interrupted their conversation, and Valentina shot Sergio a sharp look to get him to shut up as Lucía walked into her office. Lucía looked from Sergio to Valentina, then back again. "I want the two of you in my office."  
Her voice sounded gravely serious and the both stood to follow Lucía into her own office. Valentina sat down beside Eva and Sergio sat on her other side as Lucía sat behind her desk. She eyed the both of them, particularly Valentina, in suspicion before she said, "I've received news that there's an active replicant at Alacrán Corporation." Her eyes landed heavily on Valentina. "Did you know about this?"  
"Yes," Valentina answered, though she wanted nothing more than to lie.  
"And you didn't say anything?" Lucía continued in that deathly serious low tone of voice.  
Sergio shifted in his seat to come to Valentina's defense. "Uh, well, Val approached me about it as a partner. And I suggested to just ignore the issue for now because Juliana didn't even know she was a replicant."  
At the name 'Juliana', Eva perked up in her seat to turn to Valentina. "You mean that chick that Sergiohead said visits you?"  
Valentina's hands clenched on the arm of her chair in suppressed anger at Eva, and Sergio for constantly dropping Juliana's name into every given situation. She kept her gaze locked on Lucía whom looked two seconds away from bursting.

"No one told me about her," Eva continued to grumble. "That's cool."  
"It's not like that," Valentina gritted out. Not like what? She wasn't sure what she was defending, but felt defensive at the moment.  
"No, it's fine. If you get cheap thrills from harboring a skin-job—"  
"You don't know what you're talking about, so shut up!"  
"Valentina," Lucía cut in. "What are you doing?"

Her thoughts were racing a mile a minute for an excuse to save her own ass, when she blurted out, "I'm getting intel—seeing if she knows why the other replicants are here."  
Lucía leaned back in her seat and assessed Valentina for any chinks in her armor. "You always were a good liar, Val."  
"I'm not lying."  
"Well, I wouldn't know, because of how good of a liar you are, would I?" Lucía shrugged. "Has she given you anything yet?"  
"No," Valentina mumbled, leaning back in her seat once it seemed like the heat was off her. "All I know so far is that she helped build replicants, and that they aren't building any more as of late." She was using information that Sergio had fished out of Juliana during a friendly conversation, but Valentina's ass was on the line right now and she was willing to compromise her loosely termed friendship with Juliana to save it.  
"I see," was Lucía's enigmatic reply. It was all she had to say before she kicked them all out and told them to do something productive with the hours she was paying them for.

On their way out another officer rushed in, a stout older man with glasses and thinning hair at the top of his head.  
"The expression is excuse me," Eva growled as the man handed Lucía a manila envelope.  
"You three wait right there," Lucía replied distractedly. "You." She looked up at the man. "Leave."  
He scurried out of her office with an excuse me this time when Eva glared him down. Lucía opened the envelope to find a small stack of papers inside. Her eyebrows knitted together in horror as she read over it. "This just in, boys and girls, we have a strangling on our hands."  
Eva hurried into the office, eager to work on something exciting for a change. "Who's dead?"

"He works for Alacrán Corp, and is in critical condition," Lucía muttered with a glare in Eva's direction before she continued to read the file.  
Curiosity swirled in Valentina's mind as she took two steps back into the office. "What's his name?"

"Michel." Lucía's eyes glanced over the first page of information before she switched to the next. "Michel Valdés."


	5. Chapter 5

Lupita looked visibly shaken as Valentina stood in front of her with a pen and pad, discreetly assessing her body language. Her arms were folded tightly across her chest, her square jaw tense as she stared through Valentina with red-rimmed eyes. She had just ordered Ms. Corcoran away who had chased Valentina into her office, worried that she would be in trouble. Lupita rubbed at her eyebrows as she glanced away from Valentina. "I don't know what you want me to say…"

"Whatever you know," Valentina responded. "For starters, what is Michel's job within the corporation?"

"All he does is design eyes," Lupita whispered. "There is literally nothing about his job that would warrant an attack like that."

"Has he been able to describe his assailant?"

"He's in a coma," Lupita spat acidly.

Valentina inhaled a sharp breath to stop her knee-jerk reaction of flying on the defensive. It was always a possibility in her line of work that emotional people—or replicants for that matter—could lash out. Her gut reaction was to retaliate, but she had been through enough training to know that the best she could do in this conversation was maintain a calm tone of voice and understanding attitude.

Her interest in Lupita piqued, however, by her reaction. She was an emotional wreck over someone who Valentina had initially assumed was nothing more than an employee. She schooled her features to remain impassive as she asked the obvious question. "Is your shared last name with Michel a coincidence…or something more?"

Lupita's lips pressed into a thin line. She sighed heavily and turned away from Valentina to walk further into her office. It was very clinical, neat without a single paper out of place, and Lupita walked behind her desk to recline back into her several hundred dollar cushioned faux-leather seat. Her eyes pinched together to pronounce her age with crow's feet crinkling just above her cheek. She ran a hand over her hair before bracing her arms on her desk. "Michel is my husband," she whispered. "We're separated, but he’s still my husband."

Her words compelled Valentina to carefully seat herself in the chair in front of her desk. Her brow furrowed in confusion—she had never known Lupita enough to learn something as intimate as that, she was also married to another Alacrán’s Corp employee who was recently strangled into a coma was overwhelming.

"The split is…somewhat recent," Lupita muttered. "Over two years."

The number tugged on the memories in her mind almost instantly. When her eyes widened Lupita nodded somberly.

"We fought over Juliana. He never wanted her, but went along with it to make me happy." She sighed. "Everything was going well. We had planned out what she would look like, what memories she would have—it was like we were making our own baby, you know?"

"I'm sorry, but I absolutely cannot relate to this and won't pretend otherwise," Valentina admitted in a breath. It felt like someone had knocked the wind out of her, listening to Lupita speak about how he had created Juliana as if she was an actual person.

Lupita shrugged a shoulder, too lost in her own thoughts to care. "We had finally constructed her. He gave her the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen. They're so warm and inviting." She smiled fondly, and Valentina could tell that somehow, someway Lupita truly did love Juliana—a replicant. Valentina couldn't really compartmentalize it, but reasoned it was the same as loving a dog, or some other pet that was different from humans, but equally, and sometimes even more so, loveable.

"We had discussed—fought over how to raise her. I wanted to raise her between our house and the corporation because she was a replicant no matter how much I wanted her to be human. Michel disagreed, and said that if I wanted her to be human then I would have to treat her as such, and allow her to explore the world." Her wistful gaze landed on Valentina and hardened. "But I knew there were people like you out there who would try to kill her."

Valentina didn't bother to remind Lupita that it was her job.

"Then…another complication arose," Lupita replied vaguely, "and that was the final straw for Michel. He said he didn't want to get attached to her, only to have to lose her in the end. He moved out to keep from becoming attached to her, we split, and we haven't been on the best terms since."

"What is Juliana's relationship with Michel?" Valentina asked after a moment. Lucía had said a replicant had strangled Michel, and it was Valentina's job to objectively look at all of them.

"Nonexistent." Lupita glanced at Valentina to see her eying her critically and stiffened. "I hope you aren't suggesting what I think you are."

"I haven't suggested a thing," Valentina replied coolly. "I asked a question."

"Juliana didn't do it," Lupita replied adamantly. "She doesn't even know him."

Valentina bit her lip, hesitating before she finally spoke. "You said yourself that she's been strolling around town lately. It's possible—"

"It is not possible!" Lupita insisted. Her nostrils flared in agitation as her jaw twitched. After a moment she deflated back in her seat with a quiet exhale. "Detective Carvajal, I'd like for you to leave now."

"Just one more question," Valentina asserted. "Where is Juliana now?"

"I don't know," Lupita gritted out in frustration. "She comes and goes whenever she pleases in some fit of rebellion ever since you informed her she was a replicant. Then she comes home asking questions—these were the things I've been trying to avoid!"

"You knew it would happen someday!" Valentina accused, unrepentant.

Lupita was slow to agree. "Perhaps," she muttered after a moment. "But you're not the one who has to watch the youthful innocence on her face slowly chip away with every question I answer about her very existence." She turned away from her then. "I'd like for you to leave."

Valentina flipped her notepad closed and tucked it anyway in the pocket of her coat along with her pen. There was nothing more she would get from Lupita and she already felt like she had an ear full. "Thank you for your time," she murmured as she stood from her seat. "For what it's worth I hope Michel makes a full recovery."

Lupita didn't even glance up, and Valentina took that as her cue to leave.

She mashed the down button on the elevator as her phone began to buzz in her pocket. Valentina fished it out and stepped into the elevator.

"Yeah, Sergio?" she answered.

"You sound worse for wear," Sergio responded.

Valentina switched the phone to her other ear to press the ground floor button. "I just got my ass chewed for asking routine questions," she replied dryly.

"Valdés was that upset about Michel?"

"Apparently they're—" she stopped and glanced around the corners of the elevator, knowing there were cameras all around. "Did you need something?" she asked instead.

"Uh, yeah…listen…"

When he didn't continue, Valentina huffed out an annoyed breath as she walked out of the elevator. "Sergio, whatever it is, it can probably wait until I get back to the precinct."

"Well, I don't think she has a choice."

Valentina stopped in the middle of the parking deck. "Who?"

"Juliana."

"What about her?"

"She's here. At the precinct. Lucía ordered her to be picked up from off the streets and put her in lockup."

She didn't even know why she was angry, and didn't want to think about it. But she was livid. Her car door slammed behind her as Valentina walked toward the building. The overcast above dampened the color of the blade runner station that foisted itself onto the sidewalk and into passersby lives, and Valentina swung open the glass door until the metal frame grated against the brick wall of the building. She stormed inside to find everyone staring at her.

"What?" she barked.

No one said anything, and a few continued to stare in silence as most went back to work. Valentina stalked toward the very back of the building where the holding cells were when Sergio intercepted her. "Whoa, easy."

"Why is she here?" Valentina gritted out.

Sergio held his hands up and shook his head. "I don't know. Lucía ordered Eva to bring her in, and she's been here crying for you for over an hour."

"Why didn't you call me?"

The lines of her body were drawn taut with anger, and Sergio tried his best to calm her down by talking at a slower pace. "You were working the case," he rationalized. "Getting information is more important than—"

Valentina walked past him.

She turned the corner to the row of holding cells, six that sat side by side along a tiled wall. Eva was leaning back against the wall opposite the cells with a self-satisfying smirk on her face. Valentina rounded on her. "Have you lost your mind?"

"Valentina?" Juliana's voice was raspy and distressed as she practically threw herself toward the front of the cell, gripping the bars for dear life. "Valentina, is that you? Valentina, please," she whimpered.

Valentina's jaw clenched at the pathetic sound of Juliana's voice.

"I'm doing my job, something you should consider doing," Eva responded snidely.

"You're interrupting my job," Valentina growled. "I explained everything to Lucía yesterday—"

"And she didn't buy your pathetic sob story. So, I picked the skin-job up and put her here where she'll stay."

"Please, Valentina," Juliana pleaded. "I don't even—where am I?"

Eva’s lips curled into a knowing sneer as Valentina flinched at the sound of Juliana's voice. Valentina stood there for a moment longer, but reluctantly walked away from her verbal spar with Eva toward Juliana who was glued to the bars of the third cell, wild eyes stricken with fear beseeching Valentina nearer. "Where am I?"

"You're at the blade runner precinct, in a holding cell," Valentina explained.

If it were possible Juliana's eyes grew wider in fear, welling with tears. "Are they going to kill me?" she whispered.

Valentina glanced away from her to the tiled walls of the cell behind Juliana.

"She keeps yelling at me," Juliana continued. "Can you just—can we go to your apartment?" she whispered softly. "Please, Valentina."

Valentina sighed heavily and wrapped her hands around the bars, too tired, shoulders too heavy for her to carry her own weight. Two weeks ago this would have been what she wanted: Juliana in a little cell, waiting to be retired. Another of the six down, one step closer to ending the case and possibly acquiring enough money to move from here, and leave her blade running past and broke parents behind. Valentina had retired many replicants, two in this case alone, but something felt so…inhumane about watching Juliana look scared and lonely in a cell, waiting to be retired. Valentina's brow furrowed as she thought back to the loving way Lupita spoke of Juliana; she was someone's child, oddly enough.

The soft shock of fingers ghosting over her left hand caused Valentina's breath to hitch as Juliana's palm settled along the back of her hand. Juliana's hand was warm, soft, and this was the first time Valentina had ever taken the time to notice.

"Please get me out of here," Juliana murmured.

"All right, conjugal visitation is done-zo," Eva called loudly.

Valentina jerked back as if she had been burned, staring straight at Juliana.

Juliana's hand hung limply in the air for a moment before she placed it on the bar where Valentina's had been. "Please get me out," she whispered.

Valentina's shoulders squared. "Stop."

Juliana's shoulders slumped at the reprimand, but she didn't say anything.

"You said you were an adult, act like one." Her head tilted in Eva’s direction. "She's an idiot. Ignore her."

"I'll show you an idiot," Eva muttered. "Bitch."

When Juliana offered no reply, Valentina backed away from the cell. She walked forward without looking back at the sad eyes she knew were burning holes through her coat. Valentina shot Eva a cold look as she walked past her. "Quit treating her like she's an animal."

"She's less than that," Eva shot back.

Valentina tensed, but kept walking. She bypassed Sergio and held a hand up to silence whatever question he had to ask before she stormed into Lucía’s office and slammed the door behind her. Valentina marched up to her desk and slammed the palms of her hands on it. "What is this about?"

Lucia’s expression remained impassive as she sat back in her seat. "Hello, Valentina, lovely day we're having."

"Why is Juliana in a holding cell?" Valentina growled.

"Because she's a replicant. It's illegal for them to be on the streets. I know that, you know that, yet you still allowed her to roam freely about."

Valentina's nails curled into the stacks of papers on Lucía’s desk in frustration. "I told you what I was doing with her. For that to work she needs to trust me, and for her to trust me she needs to be out of that damn cell."

Sue frowned deeply. "She's a replicant."

"She's not a threat!" Valentina replied incredulously.

Lucía stood to mimic Valentina's position until they were face to face. "They're all a threat! Or have you forgotten that?"

"She hasn't hurt anyone!"

"Michel Valdés would beg to differ," Lucía countered.

Valentina recoiled at the statement, leaning back and standing to her full height. "There are four replicants on Earth, presumably here, right now. You can't just pin the attack on Juliana just because her existence blindsided you. You're not even trying to look at this objectively," Valentina spat.

Lucía leaned back to fold her arms across her chest, offense at Valentina's comment showing clearly on her face. "Whose side are you on?"

"All I'm doing is trying to retire replicants," Valentina replied. "Now there's a case on top of it. And perhaps the replicant you have cowering in a corner in that holding cell knows something, but she's not going to talk if she doesn't trust anyone."

Lucía’s eyes narrowed as she sized Valentina up for a long moment. Her lips pressed into a firm line. "If I find out you've been lying to me this entire time, I'm taking your badge, Carvajal," Lucía muttered. "And you'll be expelled from the blade runner force permanently."

Valentina didn't respond, just turned around and walked out of her office. She swiftly walked back to the holding area and tugged on the keys around Eva’s belt loop. "Let. Her. Out."

"Whoa there, Amazon." Eva yanked the keys back. "I'm not going to do anything just because you say. Who died and made you head cheerleader?"

"Let her go," Lucía said ominously as she rounded the corner. Her hands were clasped behind her back as she glared down her nose at Valentina and Eva as if they were children.

Eva dropped the keys into Valentina's hand to gape up at Lucía in disbelief. "You're just gonna let that skin-job go?"

Lucía said nothing as she eyed Valentina across the hallway at Juliana's cell.

Valentina silenced whatever Juliana was about to say with a sharp look in an attempt to not have them both be incriminated of anything as Juliana eagerly gripped the cell bars. Valentina unlocked the cell and Juliana stepped out and into Valentina's arms, clinging to her waist as she instantly began to let her tears stain onto Valentina's shirt.

"She just kept yelling," Juliana cracked out.

Valentina caught Lucía and Eva staring at her and Juliana with interest for a long moment before the both of them walked away.

Juliana was a wreck. From what Valentina could make out she had never been yelled at a day in her existence, and didn't take well to Eva berating her the entire two hours she was in lockup. She was nothing but hiccupping sobs the entire ride to Valentina's apartment and clung to Valentina into the building and on the elevator. Now they were at her door and Juliana was fitting herself into Valentina's side any way she could as Valentina fumbled with the keys with one hand.

She finally managed to unlock it and they poured into her apartment just as Juliana had poured into Valentina's life, all limbs and emotions. "Shh, stop crying," Valentina murmured as she closed the door behind her, twisting the lock. She went to her designated couch as was becoming habit. What wasn't habitual was the fact that Juliana followed her, and nestled down beside her. She wrapped her arms around Valentina's waist and buried her face into Valentina's shoulder, soaking Valentina's tan jacket with tears.

"She was so mean," Juliana whispered. "She kept calling me names, and telling me I was going to die."

Valentina swallowed thickly at the last of Juliana's statement, remembering that for all of her looks and mental faculties, Juliana was still only two years old.

With a heavy, put-out sigh, Valentina weaseled her arm from between herself and Juliana and gently pushed Juliana back.

"Valentina," Juliana whispered.

Valentina ignored her protest and wiggled out of her coat, tossing it along the arm of the couch. She knew there would be a day where she would regret this—she opened her arms and Juliana fell into them as Valentina wrapped an arm around Juliana's back. Juliana surged forward into the embrace and buried her tear-stained face into Valentina's neck.

Juliana couldn't say a word as she sat there and hiccupped out needless breaths, and Valentina, uncomfortable, couldn't will her tightly pressed lips to part and offer words of comfort. So, they sat there in silence apart from Juliana's gasping breaths until those quieted, too.

Valentina thoughts raced from one extreme to the next as she tried to come to any possible conclusion about any of them. Lucía no longer trusted her. Eva was probably out to get her now. She had chosen a replicant over her own colleagues, and for that she didn't have a concrete reason why, just jumbled thoughts that somehow justified her actions as she was in the midst of performing them—Juliana was innocent, hopefully, Juliana was someone's child, someone out there loved and cared for her, and under the guile of a capable adult replicant Juliana was just a child, one who abhorred being yelled at.

She could hear the faint vibration of her phone in her jacket pocket on the arm of the couch, but Valentina sat still as a statue, staring unseeingly ahead. She honestly had no idea what to do next.

Soft lips trembled against Valentina's throat, and she clenched her eyes shut against the unexpected feel. Juliana's hands were normal, but the strength that lay behind them was palpable as they dug into Valentina's side to grip and hold her closer. Juliana inhaled deeply. "What's a skin-job?" she rasped.

Her voice sounded foreign, scratchy, and Valentina cleared her throat to ensure hers didn't sound the same as she spoke. "It's a derogatory term…for replicants."

A soft, pained sound left Juliana's throat with a soft exhalation of, "Oh." Her hand dragged from Valentina's waist down to her thigh that she used to push herself upward. Juliana licked her lips free of tears and stared up at the blurry image of Valentina before her. "Is that how you see me, too?"

Valentina's head lolled to the side, a sigh lifting her shoulder as she stared into Juliana's glistening eyes. The tears somehow made them more vibrant and they looked like dark crystals shining at Valentina. Without thought, Valentina found herself brushing Juliana's hair from her damp cheeks. "Not anymore," she admitted.

Juliana's eyes fluttered closed at the soft feel of Valentina's fingers in her hair. Her hand that had balled into an anxious fist on Valentina's thigh unclenched to lie limply on compliant flesh. Her breath hitched. "What do you think of me now?"

"I don't even know."

Valentina's hand dropped from Juliana's hair to rest against the back of the couch. Now that Juliana had calmed down Valentina was becoming hyperaware of the soft press of Juliana's body everywhere. The hand resting on her thigh was warm and a part of Valentina wondered if every part of Juliana's body was the same warm temperature. She brought her hand up to curl around Juliana's shoulder and gently pushed her away.

"What's wrong?" Juliana instantly protested. "Did I do something?"

Valentina scooted a little further down the couch with a shake of her head. She stared down at her glass table to the tan and brown rug underneath it. "I have a few questions to ask you and I want you to answer them honestly," she heard herself say.

Her voice was detached and devoid of warmth, causing Juliana to sit up straighter.

"Do you know Michel Valdés?"

Juliana's brow furrowed immediately at the name. She was silent for a moment, then answered. "No, I've never heard of that name."

"Did you strangle Michel Valdés?"

"Valentina, did you not just hear me?" Juliana asked. "I don't even know him—is he related to my mother, or something?"

Valentina glanced up and over at Juliana, gaze burning as she pointedly said, "Don't lie to me."

Juliana bristled. "I'm not. Valentina, I have yet to lie to you, and I don't intend on starting now. If I knew of a Michel Valdés, I would inform you. Furthermore, I do not harm people—"

"How can I trust that?"

"You're trying to kill me!" Juliana declared emphatically. "Yet I've never once hurt you. I've befriended you, despite the fact that it's your job to kill me. I did not harm Michel Valdés , whoever he is."

And Valentina had no choice but to believe her. As far as she knew Juliana had never lied to her, her denying knowledge of Michel corroborated with Lupita's story, and Juliana had never hurt Valentina. Three signs pointing to her innocence. Plus, there was a part of Valentina that simply wanted to believe her.

"Okay," she murmured after a moment, and Juliana's face lit up as she scooted closer.

"You really believe me?"

Valentina shrugged. "I don't have much of a choice. And I certainly can't arrest you without motive and probable cause."

"Then I'm free to stay?" Juliana asked hopefully.

"You're free to go," Valentina corrected. "I saw your mother today and she seems to be worried about the fact that you hang out in the streets more often nowadays."

Juliana's expression darkened. "I have every right to."

"I agree. But you were right—Michel is someone very important to your mother, and I think she would appreciate if you went home to check on her."

Her eyes softened as she tentatively asked, "How was she when you saw her?"

"Awful," Valentina admitted.

"I should go," Juliana mumbled as she stood up. She smoothed down her too short skirt, and Valentina's eyes absentmindedly dropped to her flexing calves before she stood as well.

"Do you want me to take you home?" she found herself asking. Normally Juliana was left to her own devices to make it home, but Valentina felt rude to drive Juliana to her apartment from the police station, only to send her home on her own afterward.

Juliana's smile lit up the entire room. "I'd love that, Valentina, thank you."

 

"Valentina. Valentina? Valentina!"

"What?" Valentina mumbled.

Sergio shifted the gear into park along the side of the road, and turned to Valentina. "You're distracted."

Valentina sighed. "My badge is on the line, Sergio, of course I'm distracted."

Sergio scoffed. "Lucía threatens to have our badge every other case. This isn't new for you."

Valentina's face was painted in disinterest as her gaze drifted from Sergio to the hotel they were parked in front of. "This is it?"

He nodded. "We can either sit out here for five minutes and sort your shit out, or we can walk inside and risk both our lives because my partner is distracted right now." When Valentina didn't say anything, Sergio continued. "Now what the hell's been eating your brain for the last two days?"

Valentina glanced away from Sergio with a sigh. "Last time I saw Juliana she was a wreck because she had been thrown in lockup and Eva had been screaming who-knows-what at her." He waited silently, and after a moment Valentina continued with, "I shouldn't feel guilty because she got her feelings hurt."

"But then again, she's not supposed to have feelings either," Sergio added.

Valentina nodded. "She's not. But she does." She cleared her throat and unbuckled her seatbelt. "Let's do something productive, okay?"

Sergio eyed her warily as Valentina slammed the door shut, then he unbuckled his own seatbelt and climbed out of the car. They walked through the double doors of the hotel and into the lobby toward the wide eyed bellboy behind the counter. He was a clueless looking blonde headed boy with freckles in a V-neck polo shirt. Valentina flashed her badge before placing it back inside of her coat. "We called earlier about the possibility of replicants living in the building." At the blank look on his face she sighed in impatience. "May I speak with your manager?"

"S-Sure." He fumbled for the phone just inches in front of him at the edge of steel that had crept into Valentina's voice. Sergio chuckled quietly and leaned an elbow against the counter, fixing a glare onto his face to further intimidate the boy.

He dialed an extension and mumbled some words into the phone. "He should be here shortly."

An elevator dinged a moment later, and Valentina cut her eyes across the lobby to the man walking out. He was short and stout with a beer belly dressed in a white button up shirt protruding over his black slacks and tight belt. He was balding at the top, a comb over doing nothing to mask most of his bald head, and Valentina smiled at the older man as he waddled up to the counter. Sergio straightened to stand a few scant inches above the man. "Good afternoon, detectives. I trust you're well."

"We are, thank you." Valentina gestured toward the keys resting on the wall behind the counter. "May we have the key so that we can look around?"

The hotel was old, having not been refurbished in quite a while, which meant cheap rooms and an actual key for locked doors instead of more modern keycards.

"What room, again?" Sergio asked once he and Valentina stepped off the elevator onto the third floor.

"Room three-fourteen," Valentina mumbled. They walked down the hallway to the appropriate door, and Valentina turned around to shush Sergio as she fished her gun out of her pocket.

Sergio grabbed his gun and leaned back against the wall beside the door. From working with Valentina in the past he knew better than to even ask if she wanted to play back up.

Valentina unlocked the door with as little noise as possible and twisted the knob. She made eye contact with Sergio and counted silently to three before kicking the door open. "Police!" she shouted as the door flew back. It became unhinged and slumped against the door, but Valentina ignored it as she walked further inside. It was a mostly empty room with a fully made bed in the middle and a TV resting in front of it.

Sergio walked further into the room, took one look at the door and shook his head. "You can't control those legs of yours yet?"

Valentina shook off the question. She kept her gun poised in front of her as she moved across the room to the closed closet in the corner. She opened it to find it mostly empty besides a box in the corner of the floor. "Sergio, you there?" she clarified before bending down and dropping the gun beside her to grab the box.

"Yeah, I'm here." Sergio rounded a corner to the bathroom to find it empty. He walked back into the room to find Valentina walking toward the bed with a box. "What's that?"

She shrugged and opened it. It was a shoebox, the size of the shoe printed on the inside, a men's size thirteen. But the contents inside were even more important, startling. Valentina's lips parted in muted shock as she grabbed the photos inside of the box. There were four of them, the one on top being a black and white picture of a family. Valentina blinked rapidly as she went through all of the pictures, different families in each photo.

"What the hell is this?" Sergio mumbled, voice strained in his own surprise and discomfort.

"I don't know," Valentina admitted. "I have no clue."

She rubbed her lips together, placing the photos in her coat and taking a stand. Her eyes were unfocused as she looked right through Sergio, and he took a step forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. "What are you thinking about?"

"Why would replicants need photos?"

"Why would they need anything?" Sergio countered.

"Juliana's the only replicant with memories, the only replicant that would need photos to further prove her false memories," Valentina mused. "So I've been told. But that could be a lie."

Sergio looked behind him toward the door, and shifted to keep it in his line of sight as Valentina sat on the edge of the bed. "But they're also almost four," she continued.

"What are you talking about, Val?"

"Their kill switches are set in place to deactivate them before they become smarter, more human-like in emotions and actions, such as violence that could be very deadly considering how strong they are. But they can also learn other things, like, the need to belong for instance." She fished out the pictures again and flipped through them. There were multiple people in every picture standing close together with smiling faces. "What if it's possible that they just…want to be human?"

Sergio stared down at her in consternation, then shook his head. "I think you've got Juliana in your head and you're generalizing her to all replicants," he told her. "Look, I'll admit that she's…different. But I don't know whether it's a good different or bad different; all I know is that she's the only different kind of replicant."

Valentina dragged her eyes from the photos to Sergio standing in front of her. "If you weren't sure if her difference was good, then why did you call me that day when she was in lockup?"

"Because she's important to you."

When Valentina's eyes grew wide and she opened her mouth to protest, Sergio turned away. "We should probably go. I don't know what I expected but…there isn't much here."

"I hope Michel wakes up soon," Valentina said as she stood from the bed to follow Sergio out of the door. "He may be the only lead we get for a motive."

"If Juliana didn't do it."

"She said she didn't and I believe her."

"Of course you do."

Valentina's eyes narrowed as they stepped into the elevator. She folded her arms across her chest and sunk back against the railing along the back wall. She abhorred when people presumed to know how she felt, and this was no exception. But it was true that she believed Juliana. And it was true that she was beginning to extend sympathy to the replicant that had crash landed into her life and showed no signs of leaving. Valentina would have to actually be heartless to feel nothing at the sight of Juliana crying. But she wasn't, no matter what her tactless and obtuse ex-boyfriend had once said.

They stepped out of the elevator to find the manager eagerly waiting by the counter. "Did you retire them? Please say you did," he begged desperately.

"They weren't there," Valentina reported with an apology lacing her voice. "You have our number, so please call the second you notice that they're back and we'll get back down here as soon as we can."

The man looked pensive and forlorn, but nodded anyway, and Valentina and Sergio headed out of the building. Just as they reached the door, Valentina turned back around. "Just one more question. Did they give you names by any chance?"

The man nodded hurriedly. "We always ask for names to know who has what room. The names they gave were Leon, Beltrán, and Sebastian."

"Those were the names Lucía gave us," Valentina mumbled as they walked out of the building.

Sergio nodded. "Those are our guys. And all three are here. All we have to do is wait for the tip and then they're just sitting ducks." His excitement was evident in the little bounce in his step as he walked to the car. "Then we'll be done."

Then there would be only Juliana left. Valentina sighed.

"Back to the station we go?" Sergio asked as they made it to the car.

Valentina checked her watch, then grabbed the door handle. "Lunch time. Call Lucho and grab a quick bite of something?"

"Sounds like a pl—shit, Valentina, look out!"

Valentina spun around to find a fist connecting with her jaw. Two hands grabbed the lapels of her coat and hoisted her back up when she lost balance. She was slammed against the car when she overheard Sergio threatening whoever was attacking her. Valentina blinked her eyes open, focusing her vision to find a rather large man towering over her.

"Let her go, you fucking skin-job!" Sergio threatened. He grabbed his gun and steadied it over the roof of the car to aim at the replicant assaulting Valentina. Just as he was about to pull the trigger an arm curled around his throat from behind and constricted like a snake to cut off his air supply.

Valentina heard Sergio gurgling for air behind her and instinctively began to fight against what she presumed was a replicant.

"How old am I?" he asked in a cold, monotone voice with lifeless eyes.

Valentina gasped in surprise at the question. "Don't know," she choked out. She lifted her leg and kicked to send the replicant stumbling back several feet before landing on its ass. Sergio scuffling with his own problems could be heard behind her as Valentina grabbed her gun. The replicant jumped to his feet and rapidly approached her as she steadied it to shoot him in the head, and he slapped her hand as if he were swatting a fly, sending the gun skirting across the street that began to congest with lunch hour traffic and curious drivers who had stopped to survey the disturbance but not join in.

Strong hands grabbed her throat and Valentina instantly panicked, remembering how Renata had choked her a week ago. She dug her nails into the replicants hand, the fact that he could feel no pain unable to register in her desperation. Her legs kicked out wildly, trying to land a kick anywhere.

"How old am I?" the replicant asked again, and Valentina sputtered as even swallowing the saliva gathering in her throat became difficult. She vaguely registered Sergio's pained outcry in her mind as tears began to gather in the corners of her eyes. Her vision began to grow weak, darkening around the edges until the replicant's cold expression was the only thing she could see. "Leon—born in April, 2016, how old am I?"

Though no sound came out, Valentina opened her mouth to reply anyway. As she was fading out of consciousness, the only sound that pierced Valentina's brain was several gunshots in succession. She vaguely wondered if she had been shot until she felt herself crumble to the ground on her knees. She slumped forward to land on her hands and didn't move for whole seconds until her vision came back to her. She turned her head to find the replicant that had been attacking her lay motionless on the ground. Then she looked to her left, several yards away to find Juliana Valdés holding a smoking gun with a haunted, pained expression on her face.

"Bastard ran away when he heard the gunshot," Valentina heard Sergio wheeze from the other side of the car, but her eyes remained on Juliana who had yet to move, Valentina's own gun still pointing toward her.


	6. Chapter 6

Valentina stumbled to her feet, gasping for air with every step she took. She pushed off the police car, the sound of honking horns and Sergio yelling if she was all right sounding muffled in her ears as her slowly focusing vision fixated on Juliana's still form and the gun pointing at her. She lurched toward Juliana across the street with her hand outstretched, for once blindingly trusting in her dazed state. A car barreling toward her screeched to a stop, tires burning against pavement, but Valentina barely registered it. She reached Juliana and her hand curled around the barrel of the gun. A swift tug didn't break the gun free and widened blue eyes slid to Juliana who was visibly shaking with a death grip on the gun.

"Juliana," Valentina whispered. When Juliana didn't move an inch, Valentina stepped closer and grasped her chin tightly. Her voice was a stern bark the second time around. "Juliana." She jerked her chin sideways until Juliana was looking her in the eye, expression completely blank. "It's okay. Let go now."  
A shaky inhale was breathed, then one by one, Juliana peeled her fingers back, releasing her vice like grip on the gun into Valentina's waiting palm. Her lower lip trembled as she stared up at the weary expression on Valentina's face and without a word she collapsed in Valentina's arms.

Valentina could feel her heart thunder painfully against her ribcage in a mix of adrenaline and relief to still be alive. She wrapped an arm around Juliana buried into her shoulder and turned them both until she could see Sergio limping toward them. He had a cut across his eyebrow, another black eye and a busted lip—but he was alive.  
"You okay?" Sergio asked. His eyes ran over Valentina in silent assessment of her injuries.  
Bruising was beginning to spread along her neck, but the waning epinephrine shooting through her veins just told her to be thankful everything was still functioning. "Fine," she sighed. "You?"  
Sergio shrugged a shoulder. "Had worse. Her?" he continued as he warily eyed Juliana.  
"She'll be fine," Valentina assured. Her gaze washed over the traffic of cars in search of a taxi. "You think you can take the car back to the precinct?" Her tongue ran nervously over her lower lip. "I'll take her home."  
"I'll tell Lucía you needed the rest of the day off," Sergio said with a nonchalant wave of his hand. "Hell, after I drop the car off, I'll probably be taking the rest of the day off."  
"Be careful, Sergio."  
He eyed Juliana's still, unblinking form beside Valentina and frowned. "Right back at ya, Val."

Valentina silently paced the length of the living room. She barked out a cough and absentmindedly rubbed at her bruising neck, casting a wilting glance to Juliana on the couch; she hadn't moved or said a word in the past half hour. She had even stopped breathing, and was starting to put Valentina on edge. It was a frightening sight that made Valentina recall how effortlessly Juliana had splintered her brand new table, pinned her to the floor in her own apartment. Juliana was strong, unpredictable, and Valentina shuddered to think what the outcome of this encounter would be.  
She should have taken Juliana home. And she would have, but there was a distinct underline of disdain that Valentina noticed Juliana begin to feel for her home life, and Juliana had always seemed comfortable in Valentina's apartment anyway. 

Though when Valentina started taking Juliana's comfort into consideration, she didn't know.  
Her phone began to ring and Valentina jumped at the sound of it, cursing herself for appearing so weak in front of Juliana who looked to be a ticking time bomb right now. She grabbed her coat from off the arm of the other couch and fished her phone from out of the pocket.

"Yeah?"  
"How ya holding up?"

Valentina sighed. "I'm fine, Sergio, thanks. You?"

"I'm home now, for the rest of the day," he admitted with a sigh of his own. "Getting too old for this."

"You're twenty-two," Valentina drawled with a roll of her eyes.

"Exactly, I'm past prime."

The tension in her shoulders eased as she walked to the unoccupied couch and sat down.

"How was Juliana?" Sergio asked after a moment.

Valentina casted a wry glance to her left. "She's gone into full-on creep mode. Hasn't moved or spoken a word since we got back to my apartment."  
"She's there with you?" The surprise was evident in his voice, and Valentina glossed over it with a shrug of her shoulders.  
"She's obviously shaken up," Valentina rationalized. "I doubt Lupita would know how to deal with this."

"And you do?”

She did. The first time she had ever retired a replicant had been on a Friday, and Valentina had spent the rest of the weekend curled in a ball under a mound of covers in her bed, dodging calls from Lucho to hang out, calls from Sergio about how awesome their new job was, and calls from her parents back when they still regularly kept in touch. They looked so human that it had shaken Valentina up as she stared straight at one and put a bullet through its head.

Valentina had returned to work Monday with a dry face and a cool demeanor, ready to do it all again until it got easier.  
"Better than he does," she shakily answered.  
"Look, just—watch yourself, okay? Those things are known to fly off the handle at any moment, especially when faced with life or death situations."

That certainly didn't put her at ease with knowing she had an emotionally distressed replicant in her apartment. "I know," Valentina grumbled. She slid her phone back into her coat pocket once goodbyes were said. She looked down at her watch to realize an hour had passed and she was through waiting around for Juliana to show signs of life.

With slow, careful movements so as not to startle Juliana, Valentina walked toward the couch and sat down on the glass table resting in front of it. She resisted clasping Juliana's hands resting on her legs in her own, and instead looked up to Juliana's face.  
There were certain moments Valentina felt that Juliana actually looked her 'age' and this was one of them. When real world situations that Juliana had never encountered before presented themselves they seemed to age her, diminish her youthfulness as Lupita had suggested.

Juliana continued to stare straight ahead, unmoving and seemingly unaware that Valentina was even beside her, and Valentina sighed. She wondered if this was what it would be like when Juliana's four years were up. "I can't know what you're feeling if you don't speak to me," she whispered, deciding not to dwell on that thought for the moment.  
Juliana's lower lip immediately began to tremble at the soft timbre of Valentina's voice. 

It jutted out and she blinked tears into her eyes as her head lolled to the side to stare at Valentina. Her heavy gaze dropped to the impression of fingers bruised into Valentina's neck and her forehead crinkled into a soft scowl. She drew a hand up until her fingers brushed over Valentina's throat.  
Valentina flinched at the contact, jaw tightening as a tight swallow worked down her throat, and the pads of Juliana's fingers felt the lump on its way down. She breathed for the first time in over an hour, a raggedy, audible exhale. "Are you okay?"

Stunned at the fact that the first words out of Juliana's petulantly set mouth was an askance of her well-being, it took Valentina a moment to answer. "Are you?" she countered, pulling back when Juliana's fingers began to trace around her collarbone.  
Juliana's hand dropped to her lap to join its twin in fretting over the hem of her shirt. "I've never killed anyone before," she mumbled. When Valentina opened her mouth, Juliana was quick to rebuff. "And please, can we not go into semantics over the difference between killing and retiring, because for me…I have killed someone." 

"I get it."

Juliana's eyes narrowed in suspicion, and Valentina threw a hand up.  
"They look human, I get it. It was hard for me to retire my first one, too."  
"You do not get it," Juliana said simply. "I knew Leon. I worked with him when he returned to Earth over a year ago for fine tuning. I have seen and interacted with him before, and I never thought that the last time I would see him that I would—" A lone tear slid down her cheek and Juliana wrapped her arms around her middle, rocking faintly back and forth on the couch.

Valentina braced her hands on the edge of the table and pushed off of it to sit on the couch beside Juliana. She took one look at Juliana, then glanced away, not really having any words of wisdom or comfort.

Juliana scooted closer, eyes narrowing at the purpling bruise on Valentina's neck. "I would do it again, though."

"What?" Valentina mumbled.

"Kill him, if it meant your safety."

A surprised breath stuttered out of Valentina. "Why would you kill one of your own—for me?" she whispered.

Juliana's gaze dropped to Valentina's hand resting between them on the couch. She grabbed it, anything for contact, and scooted that much closer. "I really, really care about you, Valentina," Juliana murmured. "A lot."

Valentina cleared her throat, glancing away from the sincerity she saw shining in Juliana's eyes. Her hand flexed as she pulled it back and stood from the couch. "I'm going to…make a sandwich, or something," she mumbled. "Want some tea?"  
"You don't have to leave," Juliana called feebly once Valentina stood.  
"I'm hungry," Valentina reiterated. "Do you want tea?"  
"Yes," Juliana whispered, biting her lip in anxiety as Valentina turned to leave.  
Valentina walked around the table in front of the couch and headed toward the kitchen. She grabbed a paper towel from the dispenser on the counter beside the sink and wiped at her watering eyes. She took a deep breath, bracing her hands on the counter and staring down at the marble surface.

Nothing made sense anymore, and she felt weird. She had nearly been strangled to death by a replicant that Juliana had retired, only to have Juliana tell her that she apparently really cared for Valentina despite the fact that Juliana wasn't even supposed to be able to feel.

Her lungs labored with a shaky inhale as she pushed herself up from the counter. The absence of adrenaline left her body feeling heavy and tired, her hand shaky as she reached up into a cabinet above the sink for a mug, filling it with water and placing it in the microwave.

Juliana surprisingly hadn't crept into the kitchen yet, and Valentina reveled in the much needed distance. Juliana's touch made her skin crawl for some reason, and she had to get away from it because Juliana didn't really exercise personal space when she was in distress and Valentina thrived on her own space. The entirety of the kitchen was enough for now as she walked to the pantry to retrieve a packet of chamomile tea. She placed the tea bag in the steaming mug of water and carefully walked out of the kitchen with it. "I normally drink chamomile when I can't sleep. But it also helps with anxiety, and since you're so on edge right now, I thought—"  
Valentina stopped talking when Juliana didn't react to her. She was lying on her side on the couch, legs drawn up, one arm pillowing her head. Her eyes were closed and even breaths gently stirred her body. 

"Juliana?" Valentina voiced softly. She walked closer and placed the cup of tea on the table, kneeling before Juliana to find her sleeping soundly. A quick glance at her watch told her it was nearing five p.m. She hadn't known replicants could sleep and suddenly wondered what kind of hours Juliana kept if she fell asleep in the evening.

Biting the corner of her lip, Valentina swallowed a lump down her throat as she brought a hesitant hand forward to smooth back Juliana's hair from her face. Long, dark locks of hair were silky smooth and soft as they sifted through Valentina's curious fingers that then traced along Juliana's cheekbone, warm skin concaving pliantly as Valentina touched it. She marveled at how life like, real Juliana was under her fingertips as she physically acquainted herself with a replicant for the first time.

Pleasure model replicants were known to feel and act like a real person…during, but Valentina, only having been intimate with two people in her entire life, had never had the thought and certainly not the desire to be with a replicant. She had never touched one outside of punching it or attempting to hold it hostage. Until several days ago when Juliana wrapped her hand around her own, Valentina had never taken the time to notice how much like humans replicants felt, even down to warm body temperatures, soft hair and skin, moist lips…

Valentina shut her eyes tightly as she pulled away, suddenly feeling like an intruder. She abruptly stood to her feet, looming over Juliana in indecision of what to do. Her eyebrows knitted together as she wondered if Juliana felt as drained as she did, and if so, Valentina didn't really have the heart to wake her up and kick her out.  
Sighing heavily, Valentina spun on her heel and walked stiffly to her hallway closet, grabbing a giant comforter with both hands and walking back into the living room. She slid the cup of tea further down the table to keep from knocking it over and spread the blanket over Juliana's still form, though she had no idea whether or not Juliana actually got cold or whether she occasionally wore her coat out into the wintering weather to better blend in with humans.

She stood to her full height, rubbing her forehead in anxiety as she walked to the other side of the couch to grab her phone. Casting one last glance at Juliana, Valentina walked down the hallway to her room, closing the door behind her and contemplating locking it. With trembling fingers, she dialed Sergio's number and climbed into bed.  
"Go for Sergio."  
Valentina let out an unsteady laugh. "Damn, you're lame."  
"Says you. I greeted a girl whose number I just got on the phone like this once, and she was over my apartment in ten minutes flat."  
"Doubt it." She peeled back her covers and slid under them with a sigh. She could probably sleep straight through the next twenty-four hours with no problem.

Sergio was silent for a moment and the only sound on the line was Valentina's uneven breaths. She had had asthma as a child and had since grown out of it, but to this day her breathing still tended to grow laborious in stressful situations as if prepping for an attack that wouldn't come.

"What's up, Val?" Sergio asked, recognizing her pattern of breathing right away.  
Valentina took a deep breath and held it for several seconds in order to regulate her

breathing. "Juliana's asleep on my living room couch," she sighed out after a moment.  
"Why's she still there?" he asked, concerned.  
Valentina shrugged a shoulder, though she knew he couldn't see. "She was anxious."  
"You are anxious because she's in your apartment."  
She went to protest, then bit her lip pensively. "I'm not nervous about her—she's harmless. It's more just the replicant aspect, I think."  
"But she is a replicant, Valentina," Sergio needlessly pointed out, and Valentina bristled at his patronizing tone of voice.  
"I know what she is, okay? I'm well aware of what she is and what she's capable of."  
"Okay, okay, sorry," he grumbled.  
Valentina slammed back onto her pillows, pinching the bridge of her nose to fight off a headache. "She saved my life."

"She did."

"Why, though?"

"What'd she say?"

Valentina scoffed out an incredulous laugh. "That she 'cares' about me."  
"It's possible," Sergio supplied. "She can feel, and all."  
"Yeah," she murmured after a moment. She rubbed at her eyes once more, then yawned. "I should probably go. I'm tired, and I'm sure I could sleep for days."  
"I definitely won't be waking up until Monday. Later, Val."  
"Bye, Sergio." The phone landed with a thump on the bed, and Valentina turned over to bury her face into the pillows below her.

When Valentina awoke she immediately knew she wasn't the only one in her pitch black room. There was no movement, no sound—just unease raising the hairs on the back of her neck.  
Juliana, perched at the foot of the bed, heard the change in Valentina's breathing immediately and perked up. "Good morning, Valentina."  
Her heart rate spiked at the sound of Juliana's voice but her brain registered just who it was before instinct had her throwing back her covers and fumbling in the dark for her gun. Valentina exhaled a trembling breath, and leaned over to the lamp beside her bed. It clicked and light dispersed over the room, chasing away the dark to reveal Juliana staring at her expectantly.

"That's really fucking creepy," Valentina deadpanned, voice thick with sleep.  
Juliana bit her lip guiltily. "I'm sorry. I had originally come in here to see if you were awake. And I had every intention of leaving,"   
she rushed out.  
Valentina arched an eyebrow as if to prompt, but?  
Juliana's jaw twitched with a sheepish response on the tip of her tongue. "But you just…you looked so beautiful sleeping, like an angel. It was poetic—just…watching you."

Valentina stared at her for a long moment, then collapsed back onto the bed, digging the heels of her palms into her eyes. She briefly wondered how Juliana could even see her sleeping, but decided that she didn't want to hear more about replicants and their super special abilities to see clearly in the dark. "I'm no angel," she finally muttered.

"You are to me."

Well, that was new.  
Valentina shook her head as she sat up. Her voice was sharp when she spoke. "No. I am no angel, and you need to stop seeing me that way."

When Juliana didn't say anything, Valentina looked away from her to glance at the clock on her bedside table. It was five in the morning. With a groan, she tossed back the covers and tossed her legs over the bed. "I don't even have to get up for work this early," she griped.

Her legs barely moved, stiff, and Valentina shot a wary glance at Juliana from the corner of her eye before peering down at her feet resting on the floor. She sighed and stood up to her full height. Her gaze dropped down to where they rested abnormally straight and with a soft grunt, Valentina pulled her leg up, bended at the knee and pulled it back with her right hand to stretch, left eye squinting in discomfort.

Juliana's dark gaze rested, heavy, on Valentina's legs as she slowly rose from the bed. Her widening eyes found Valentina's guarded ones as Juliana gestured to them. "You-you…" She was so excited she couldn't get her words out.  
Valentina decided her stretching could wait and she walked toward the door with one stiff leg. "Shut up."  
"I've seen replicants do that," Juliana needlessly informed her.

Valentina ignored her statement and walked out of the room, stopping by the hallway closet to grab a towel and wash cloth.  
"Older models," Juliana continued. "Their metal bones stiffen because the alloy they were made of was much less malleable than what I, and every other replicant made after me are made of."

Valentina spun around and stepped up to Juliana who squeaked in surprise and quieted under Valentina's oppressive glare. "Shut. Up."  
"What are you?" Juliana whispered instead.

"I'm human."

"But your legs—"  
"Are neither here nor there," Valentina replied curtly. She spun around to step into the bathroom.

"I won't judge you," Juliana said softly.  
Valentina stopped, dropping the contents in her hand on the edge of the sink. "Why are you so pushy?"

"Because you're clearly uncomfortable about something that you shouldn't be. I think this is nothing short of remarkable. You're the bridge between human and replicant. Don't you think that's amazing?"

"I think its sick," Valentina choked out.  
Tentatively, Juliana walked into the bathroom, the soles of her flats soundless against the floor. "Why is it sick?"  
"Because I didn't have a choice."

Juliana placed a hand on her shoulder and Valentina flinched away, troubled gaze landing on hers.

"Why didn't you have a choice?"  
"I was in a coma."  
"Unconscious for a prolonged period of time," Juliana murmured to herself. "Why?"  
"Why do you care?" Valentina sighed.  
"We're friends, and I care deeply about you."  
"Yes, how could I forget." Valentina rolled her eyes. She slinked away from the sink to walk over to the shower, stretching her leg behind her without having to watch Juliana's calculating eyes. She started the shower, and sat down on the closed lid of her toilet. "I was in a car accident when I was eighteen, at the end of my senior year of high school." She looked up to the grief stricken expression on Juliana's face. "Got into a coma," she exhaled. "And my mother preferred me to have…these," she said, gesturing to her legs, "so that I could walk and eventually go on to win prom queen instead of me being wheelchair bound with my own legs, and not win prom queen because of my disability. And now I'm some cyborg freak because—I don't want to talk about it anymore." She turned away.

The porcelain of Valentina's sink began to crack from the inside and Juliana's grip around the edge of it slackened until her hand fell away. "Cyborg freak," Juliana repeated disdainfully. "No, you're not that at all. You're…unique and special, and one of a kind, Valentina."

She sounded so earnest and assertive in her own beliefs that Valentina almost believed her. But more than anything Valentina just wanted this conversation to be over, to once again forget that her legs were artificial—of course until Eva called her Amazon, or Sergio commented on the fact that after nearly three years she still hadn't gained control over her legs.

Juliana walked closer to kneel in front of Valentina. "But this wasn't something you wanted," she said, hand rising to touch Valentina's leg. She looked up to meet Valentina's gaze with open curiosity and lack of judgment. "May I?"

Valentina nodded, and turned away.  
She felt Juliana's finger prod at her toe, then her entire hand grasped her ankle under Valentina's tight fitting jeans. "How did I not notice this before?" Juliana murmured to herself as she felt the hard, unyielding alloy that formed Valentina's ankle.

"It's not very noticeable," Valentina breathed thickly as Juliana's attentive fingers curved to trace along the back of her calves. Her skin prickled in the wake of those soft hands as they stopped at her knees. Juliana rubbed circles into her knee caps, then ran her hands down Valentina's hard shins. "I wear dresses, skirts, people don't notice."

"People don't notice me, either," Juliana told her. "When I'm out running errands around the city no one casts a second glance."  
"I wouldn't have noticed you were a replicant had I had stopped the EPR test at the appropriate twenty to thirty question limit."

Juliana smiled, an uncharacteristic, secretive smirk that Valentina had never seen on her before. "So I was informed." She poked Valentina's skin bone through her jeans, and marveled at the handiwork. "Your legs must be remarkably strong."

Valentina instantly thought back to the door she had unhinged when she kicked it open, and chuckled with a sardonic grin aimed at Juliana. "You have no idea."

Juliana's lips pulled into a smile at the obvious tease at her expense. "I think I may." She watched her hands flit along Valentina's mid-thigh, until pale hands grabbed her own and pulled them away.

"Personal space," Valentina uttered abruptly.  
"Right," Juliana mumbled sheepishly as she looked away. She took a deep breath, eyebrows knitting in confusion as she stood. "I should probably let you…" She trailed off and turned away completely to walk out of the bathroom.

Valentina stared confusedly at the empty doorway. She stood up to close the door, stripped her clothes, and finally hopped into the hot shower awaiting her. It tended to loosen up the properties of the alloy in her legs, making stretching and bending much easier for the rest of the day.

Thoughts of her accident in high school were forced into the back of her mind. She came from a family that repressed the bad, locked it away in the backs of their minds until it grew cobwebs around the corners. It had been nearly three years and no one had brought it up since she had awoken from her coma and finished eight intense weeks of physical therapy to acquaint herself with her new legs. She skipped out on the last two weeks, which were meant to teach her how to control the strength that lay behind them, and well, at this point in life she could have probably used them.

Fog raced her out of the bathroom once her shower ended. With the towel wrapped tightly around her, she walked out to find Juliana surveying her living room. Deciding to leave her to it, Valentina walked into her room and shut her door to lean back against it.  
This was officially the weirdest point in her life. She forwent a bra to throw on a t-shirt and leggings to quickly get outside of her bedroom to see what Juliana was up to. On the tips of her toes, Valentina walked silently into the living room to find Juliana bent at the waist by her stereo system. Curious to see what she was going to do, Valentina hid by the end of the hallway wall leading into the living room as Juliana pressed buttons on her stereo.  
Within seconds loud music blared from the speakers and Juliana jumped back with a yelp. "Valentina!" she called frantically. She spun around to find Valentina standing there staring at her with an exasperated expression and the tension lacing Juliana's body evaporated. "I think I did something."

"I think you did a lot," Valentina grumbled. She walked over to the stereo and adjusted the volume to a level that would keep her neighbors from filing a noise complaint, then glared mildly at Juliana. "Ask next time."  
"I was curious," Juliana mumbled, shamefaced.

"That seems to be your motto."

"May I ask you a question, Valentina?" she asked as Valentina began to walk away.  
"What?"  
Juliana took steps to follow, but halted, wringing her hands together. "Are you still going to kill me?"

Valentina stopped by the threshold of the kitchen, hand braced on the doorway. Her shoulders slumped. "No, I guess I'm not, am I? That wouldn't be the friendly thing to do, after what happened yesterday."

Her tone was mildly mocking, but Juliana couldn't help but grin in happiness as she walked closer. "I—thank you, Valentina." Without warning, she wrapped her arms around Valentina's waist.

Valentina felt her throat clog at the heartfelt thank you she had just received. "Don't ever thank someone for not retiring you," she found herself saying. "That's like, saying thank you to the waiter for not spitting in your drink."  
Juliana giggled, and burrowed into the soft cotton of Valentina's shirt. "Okay." She showed no signs of letting go and Valentina lightly placed her hands on Juliana's shoulders.  
"Do you…shower?" she asked after a moment. "Or get dirty at all?"  
"To your first question: yes, I shower. To your second: I don't excrete sweat or any type of odor. But filth is capable of getting on my person, so daily showers are a must."  
Valentina gently pushed her back. "You can shower here then, if you'd like."  
"Yes, please," Juliana chirped with a grateful grin.

Valentina set up a shower and left Juliana to it, closing the door and heading toward the kitchen. The sun had begun to rise, and Valentina flicked off the lights in the kitchen to enjoy the natural sunlight that was beginning to stream through the windows.  
Deciding not to dwell on how weird her morning was turning out to be, Valentina instead went about preparing breakfast. She grabbed a packet of bacon and two eggs from the refrigerator when her house phone, perched on the far wall near her microwave began to ring. Valentina deposited a plate of four slabs of bacon into the microwave and grabbed the phone. "Hello?"  
"Making sure you're still alive."  
"Seems so," she sighed, cracking an egg into a pan. "You?"  
"My eye looks like I ran face first into a pubic bone, but other than that I'll live."

Valentina felt around her neck at the mention of Sergio's injuries. "I'll have to wear concealer for the next few days, but…this is the job, right?"

Sergio sighed at the sound of her uncharacteristically weak voice. "You hate it."  
"Of course I hate it," Valentina hissed. "I nearly die every time I leave that fucking precinct with a tip." She sighed and rested the phone in the crook of her neck and shoulder as she braced her hands on the counter to lean against them. "Sometimes I just want to move the fuck away from here," she replied snidely.  
"Well, shit, if you felt that way why'd you take the job?"

Valentina stared at the wall with a blank face. "Because Lucía offered a generous pay that could more than pay for my acting classes, and when I said no to that she threatened to throw my father in prison for extortion."

"Oh, yeah," Sergio said with an awkward laugh. "I remember that."  
She stood to flip her sunny side up eggs over when the microwave dinged for attention. She rolled her eyes at Sergio's silence over the phone and muttered, "Gotta go, Sergio. Breakfast is ready."

"Stop being so emo, Val. It's good money and you know I'd never let you die. Lucho would probably kill me," he laughed. "Laters."

Valentina hung up the cordless phone and placed it on the counter to open the microwave.

"Umm, Valentina?"

She spun around at the unexpected sound of Juliana's voice, and her jaw dropped to the floor. In the middle of her kitchen stood Juliana, naked and dripping wet, water splashing onto the tiled floors below. Her skin glistened from the sun beaming through the slits of blinds from the window as Juliana just stood there as if this was normal. "I believe you neglected to leave me a towel."  
Valentina inhaled deeply for a sense of self control as her eyes felt assaulted with too much information, the lean muscles of Juliana's smooth, tan arms and long legs, the protrusion of her collarbones, the roundness of perky breasts and even perkier nipples, her flat, defined abdomen. Valentina swallowed and looked away. Juliana was completely hairless, everywhere.

"You're dripping onto my floor," Valentina mumbled after a long moment.  
Juliana took a hesitant step back and looked down to the water pooling around her feet. "I'm sorry; I didn't meat to. I just need—"  
Her rambling knocked Valentina out of her reverie and she breezed past Juliana without a second glance. "Towel, right."

She yanked open her closet door and grabbed a fluffy towel, extending it to Juliana as she looked right past her head. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have eggs cooking."  
Juliana grabbed her arm as Valentina stepped away. "Did I do something wrong?"  
Valentina's eyebrows dipped in incredulity and a tad bit of sympathy when she was met with confused hurt on Juliana's face. "No," 

Valentina sighed. "I'm just…weird about nudity."

Juliana made a face, then giggled. "That is weird."

Valentina frowned. "You're weird."

"Then we fit, you and I."

The statement caught Valentina unawares, and she rubbed her face, muttered something about her food getting cold and walked back down the hallway, leaving Juliana naked by the closet.

Juliana emerged ten minutes later in the same clothes she had worn yesterday, looking pristine, though her hair was still soggy. "I suppose I'll have to go home soon," she mumbled as she breezed past the kitchen into the living room where Valentina sat on the couch with one foot braced against the table, eating bacon and eggs.

"Your hair's wet," Valentina needlessly informed her. "And it's freezing outside. Do you get sick?"

Juliana shook her head, preoccupied with the stereo system. It was playing a slow song that caught Juliana's interest. "What is the name of this song?"

"Pretty Wings," Valentina answered. "Maxwell."  
"His falsetto is exquisite," Juliana commented  
"Best song from the album."  
"You have the entire album? Are you a fan?"  
"Kind of."  
Juliana briefly turned toward Valentina to say, "I'm a huge fan of Barbra Streisand. Her voice is divine. Have you heard of her?"

Valentina barked out an amused laugh. "Who hasn't?"

She grinned back, thankful to have common ground with Valentina as she turned back to the stereo. Valentina went back to her food, and it wasn't even a minute later when she heard Juliana pick up on the chorus she had learned and begin to sing the song. Her voice was cripplingly gorgeous, and Valentina nearly choked on her food as she sat her plate down. "That bitch," she muttered as she stood up.  
Juliana straightened to stare at Valentina. "Is something wrong?"

"You can sing?" Valentina asked. "Well? Like, really well?"  
"Oh, well, yes, I suppose," Juliana answered, growing shy under the compliment hidden underneath Valentina's questioning. "I only sing at home, but my mom tells me that my voice is amazing, stunning even."

"I bet she does," Valentina grumbled to herself. She walked out of the room without another word and returned with a pencil and paper. She slammed it on the table and motioned for Juliana to come closer. "Draw something."

"I'm sorry?"

Valentina was beginning to wonder if Lupita had indulged in her own creation and made Juliana capable of virtually anything. "Draw…" she looked around the room, then her eyes landed on Juliana. "Draw me."

Juliana knelt before the table and picked up the pencil, eying Valentina warily as she sat on the couch in front of her.

She took to drawing and Valentina rested her chin in her hand, watching the tension in Juliana's face as she worked diligently. Valentina couldn't believe there was a time when she was scared that someone like this would actually kill her. She felt ludicrous now, and had to look away after a moment when embarrassment at her own paranoia warmed her face.

"Done!" Juliana announced.  
Valentina lifted a skeptical eyebrow and held out a hand for the paper. Juliana bit her lip and handed it to her. "Don't judge," she warned.

Valentina held the paper up, face devoid of emotion as her eyes scanned over the inaccurate scaling and uneven shading. It looked nothing like her, and she grinned. So Juliana wasn't good at everything, and Valentina liked that about her for some reason.

"You suck."

"I said don't judge!" Juliana whined. She shot up from the floor and walked over to Valentina who held the picture out of her reach when Juliana moved to grab it.

Valentina found herself laughing both at the drawing and the indignant pout on Juliana's face. "This needs to be judged, harshly."  
The couch dipped as Juliana kneeled on it, and Valentina twisted at the waist to present her shoulder to Juliana as she leaned closer. The paper was crumbling in Valentina's hand, but Juliana seemed to forget about it as she grabbed Valentina's shoulder with a grin and spun her around.

"No, you don't get to go crazy replicant on me," Valentina threatened as she attempted to twist out of Juliana's hold, and Juliana just grinned harder as her hands softly curled around Valentina's shoulders and pushed her into the couch. She threw one leg over Valentina's hips and settled on top of her to prevent Valentina's wild legs from kicking her completely off the couch.  
Valentina groaned and threw her head back into the couch cushions. "I hate you."

Juliana giggled. "That's a very strong word." She leaned down, eyes darkening as she regarded Valentina's face, flushed with exertion. The picture fell forgotten to the floor as Juliana swallowed thickly, thighs tightening around Valentina's waist. "Valentina, I—" She didn't know how to continue, and her lips pursed, brow furrowing as she reached down to brush silky hair from Valentina's face with gentle fingers.

Valentina stiffened, shrugging a shoulder in a not so subtle warning to Juliana to get up.  
But Juliana remained where she was, confused and dazed, as she breathed, "I feel weird when I touch you this way."

"We need to get up," Valentina immediately responded. She shrugged out of Juliana's slackened grip and leaned up until they were face to face. Juliana's gaze was wild as it roamed from Valentina's eyes to her nose, down to her lips to linger, before Valentina softly said, "Get up, Juliana."

Reluctantly, Juliana rose from the couch until Valentina had enough room to squeeze out from under her. Valentina's eyes fluttered closed. She inhaled deeply and licked her lips while Juliana watched her from across the couch. Neither of them said a word for a long moment until Juliana stood from the couch to mutter, "I should probably go. My mother must be worried sick."

Valentina barely nodded, and Juliana took the long way around the table until she arrived at the door. She fumbled with the doorknob and Valentina finally snapped into motion, rising from the couch to meet Juliana. She leaned past her to unlock the door and a tiny gasp lodged in Juliana's throat at the feel of Valentina against her back. "It's not a bad feeling," Juliana whispered shakily, referencing her earlier words.

Valentina didn't trust herself to say anything, and simply held the door while Juliana walked out, spinning around to face Valentina once she was out of the door, yet unable to look her in the eye. "Thank you for…all of this," Juliana mumbled. "You're a really good friend, and you mean so much to me, Valentina."

"Thank you for saving my life," Valentina replied sincerely.

Juliana looked up with a proud grin. "It was my pleasure."

They shared a brief, awkward hug before Juliana disappeared behind the elevator doors, and Valentina closed herself off in her apartment. She leaned heavily against the door with a nervous swallow, rubbing the tense muscles at the back of her neck as she wondered, not for the first time, what the hell she had gotten herself into.


	7. Chapter 7

Valentina had ordered take-out and slept the rest of Saturday away. She had missed Sunday church this morning and settled for lounging on the couch in the living room, ignoring how it somehow managed to still smell like Juliana's hair after she had used Valentina's own shampoo. 

The remote to the TV across the room rested on her gently rising and falling stomach as she caught a rerun of syndicated Law & Order: SVU episodes.

Only, her mind wouldn't turn off and allow her to completely veg out on the couch and enjoy the marathon. Valentina had a bit of an obsessive personality. It had its positives and negatives. Her obsessive personality allowed her to be a straight A student the majority of her school career. Her obsessive personality made her an exceptional blade runner. 

She always finished every case she started. But when her obsessive personality started to focus on Juliana, Valentina wished on all the stars in the sky that she could just turn her brain off, or find something else to focus on.  
Juliana was without a doubt the weirdest being Valentina had ever come into contact with, human or replicant. She was quirky with spurts of randomness that kept Valentina on her toes. She was compassionate and naïve almost to a fault—befriending Valentina despite the fact that Valentina was supposed to retire her. 

She was too much of everything: nice, trusting, docile—the complete antithesis of Valentina, and she intrigued Valentina, especially since all of those qualities were attributes Juliana wasn't supposed to possess in the first place. But she was 'special', after all.

Valentina rolled her eyes.

She wondered if all replicants were made like Juliana. Juliana had mentioned how replicants before her were constructed of different metal. Valentina wondered if they still felt as soft as Juliana did, looked like she did…under their clothes.

Taking a deep breath, Valentina attempted to look at the situation as objectively as possible. She had seen a woman's naked body before, touched it intimately, had enough knowledge of the female body from both her own and her high school girlfriend to know that anatomically speaking, Juliana came pretty damn close to the real thing, passable. Her body was lean, toned, full where it was supposed to be and trim just the same. It was mind-boggling, but something Valentina was slowly adjusting to. After seeing Juliana literally stripped bare, Valentina had finally come to terms with the fact that Juliana had nothing to hide. 

That she really just wanted to be friends, more than, if the way Juliana had reacted yesterday was any indication.  
Valentina pinched the bridge of her nose. The fact that Juliana wasn't even aware of what her body's reaction meant put all the pressure on Valentina to handle the situation as delicately as possible…which basically meant kicking Juliana out of her home as quickly as possible before—Valentina shook her head, wondering what the hell she was thinking.

Juliana was a replicant, would terminate in two years, and was not human. Except, neither was Valentina anymore, technically.  
But that didn't matter. What mattered was that this was entirely too weird and uncomfortable to actually happen.

Law & Order slid right into commercial without Valentina even knowing what the case was about and she sighed.  
It was no surprise to her when she heard a knock on the door, Juliana's husky voice muffled as she said, "Valentina? Valentina, are you in there? It's important that I speak with you."

Valentina stretched along the length of the couch with a tired yawn, scratching her exposed hipbone where her shirt had ridden up. What was important was space between the two of them to cool off Juliana's libido and calm Valentina's thoughts, but that didn't seem to be in the cards, especially with how intertwined they both were in this case.

She opened the door and quickly stepped aside as Juliana barreled through with a concentrated frown on her face. Valentina closed the door and turned around to face Juliana, eyebrows high on her forehead in confused amusement. "Good afternoon to you, too."

"Hi, Valentina," Juliana grumbled, though her less than inviting disposition remained the same. She unbuttoned her coat to reveal a red sweater with a reindeer on it that Valentina frowned at as Juliana placed her coat on the couch. She approached Valentina with hesitation. "We're friends, right?"

"I guess so," Valentina responded carefully.

"And you won't retire me, right? You promised," Juliana rushed out.

"I won't," Valentina answered after a moment.

The implication wasn't lost on Juliana who took a deep inhale to absorb the information, then pushed it to the side. "I've done some research over the internet."

Valentina quirked an eyebrow as an uneasy feeling dipped into the pit of her stomach.  
"I asked mom to buy me a Cosmo magazine," 

Juliana continued in the deafening silence.  
Valentina exhaled audibly. "And?"  
Juliana took a deep breath. "I'm eighty-six percent sure I'm in love with you."

Stockholm syndrome was the first thought to enter Valentina's mind, and the dread churning in her stomach upped the ante tenfold.

"I—what?" Valentina stammered, flinching at the statement.

"And Cosmo suggested that I stop giving you all the power and take charge."

"Okay, stop," Valentina blurted out suddenly. Her eyes widened in surprise at this entire whirlwind of a situation. "Juliana, this is—no," she continued, unsure of what she was even trying to say.

Juliana's shoulders slumped at the rejection. "What's 'no'?" she whispered.

Valentina stepped forward and braced her hands heavily on Juliana's shoulders. They were soft and Valentina found herself curling her fingers into them unconsciously. "Listen to me very carefully. You have been through…hell and back in the past several weeks, okay? You've found out you aren't human, you've gone to jail, you killed someone," Valentina said gravely, deciding to use Juliana's terminology to convey the severity of the situation.

"I know that," Juliana mumbled, eyes downcast as her brow knotted.  
"And through all of that I was the one constant presence, your only friend," Valentina continued. "It's…natural to feel connected to me. But I—sweetie, you don't love me." Her voice tinged on desperation as she silently pleaded with Juliana in her mind to take back the sentiment. "We're friends," Valentina whispered. "You care about me, but you don't love me, okay?"

Juliana's gaze remained focused on her feet as Valentina's grip on her shoulders flexed then fell away. They stood there for a long moment, until Valentina ran a hand through her hair in frustration at Juliana's silence and walked past her.

"I'm watching TV," Valentina muttered as she gestured to the flat screen across the room. She walked toward the kitchen, calling awkwardly over her shoulder, "Do you want a drink or something?"

"You're wrong," Juliana murmured to herself. Her hands clenched into fists that shook at her side as she quickly spun around and followed Valentina into the kitchen. "You're so wrong about everything!" she yelled.

The surprising bass in her voice shook Valentina's hand and knocked over a cup in the cabinet. She grabbed it with a firmer grip in determination not to be rattled by Juliana just because she was stronger. She slammed the cup on the counter and turned around to face Juliana. "Keep. Your voice. Down."

"It is incredibly rude and insensitive of you to just decide for me how I feel about you," Juliana replied immediately.

"What is this, Cosmo talking?" Valentina spat. Confrontation she could do, was built for. Sitting around and discussing feelings was the dangerous territory.

"Yes," Juliana decided. "It is Cosmo talking. And it was right. I'm not just going to allow you to discount my feelings just because I'm a replicant and 'can't feel'."

Valentina scoffed. "It has nothing to do with whether or not you can feel."

"Then what is it about?"

Her arms folded across her chest on instinct, in defense. "You don't just fall in love with someone overnight. It's not that simple."  
"It is!" Juliana insisted. "I've researched it. Have you?"

Valentina shot her a look of incredulity because, who the hell researches what love is? People normally just know. Humans just know, replicants like Juliana were the only ones who would need to research the definition of love.

"It's physical and psychological," Juliana explained when Valentina didn't respond. "It's the fact that I think about you all the time, even when we're not together."

Valentina shifted uncomfortably to lean back against the counter and feign nonchalance as Juliana ticked off a list on her fingers.  
"The fact that I care about you as much as I do. I didn't know what that was before, but I get it now."

"We're just friends," Valentina reiterated.

Juliana inhaled deeply, licked her lips and took a step closer. "The fact that I-I like touching you, and I like when you touch me."

Valentina didn't have a response for that, and her lips pressed tightly together as her eyes tightened.

"I like when we hug," Juliana continued emphatically. "And I feel—I felt really weird yesterday when I was on top of you and you knew that I was aroused."

Her throat bobbed with a tight swallow as her gaze skirted away from the open sincerity pouring out of Juliana's eyes. "You just got a little excited because we were play fighting,"   
she whispered. 

"That's all."

"It was sexual arousal because I'm attracted to you—I didn't understand that yesterday. But I went home and talked to my mother—"  
"You told Lupita about that?" Valentina asked, aghast as her mouth hung open slightly in horror.

Juliana shrugged a shoulder sheepishly. "I ask my mother about everything I don't understand, Valentina. This was no different."

"I created her to live the most fulfilling human life possible, detective Carvajal. The act of sex is essential to human interaction and building intimate, trusting relationships, and I would be remiss to ignore that. Wouldn't you agree?"  
Lupita’s words from the heated argument Valentina had shared with him several weeks back sprang to her mind unbidden in an instant. She had informed her that Juliana was built for this, sexual arousal and intimacy because she wanted her to make long lasting and meaningful connections with people, a person. Valentina reasoned in a way that was what every parent wanted, for their child to not be alone in the world. But what enraged her was that fact that Lupita had built a replicant who thrived on affection and contact like humans though Juliana would only live for four years. It wasn't fair for Juliana to expect Valentina to fall in love with her when she was going to simply stop functioning in two years tops.

Her nails curled into her arms as tension laced her body. "Juliana," Valentina sighed. She scratched the back of her head, unsure what to even say.

"I'm pretty sure I'm in love with you," Juliana reiterated. "I took a quiz in Cosmo—it asked me questions." She walked closer until she had to crane her neck upwards a fraction to roam her eyes over Valentina's face. "It asked if I thought you were beautiful," she breathed. "Actually, it asked if I thought you were a hunk, but well—that's what they use to describe men, so I added my own word."

Valentina gurgled out a laugh, shaking her head in disbelief of this situation as she purposefully avoided Juliana's gaze.  
"I answered 'yes'," Juliana told her. "I answered 'yes' to constantly thinking about you, and I answered 'yes' to the question of whether or not I like your hugs."

"Being with someone is more than just hugging," Valentina muttered darkly.  
Juliana's brow furrowed as she nodded. "Yes, right. There is kissing also, which is why I said I'm eighty-six percent sure I'm in love with you. Cosmo informed me that physical compatibility is very important in a romantic relationship, so if you could just kiss me—"

"No," Valentina interrupted, posture growing rigid against the counter. "I'm not going there with you."

"Why?" Juliana asked quietly. "Is it because I'm a replicant?"

"It's because you don't love me." Valentina slid out of the lessening space between herself and Juliana and walked out of the kitchen. Her breathing grew labored under the confusion she felt as she walked down the hallway and into her bedroom. She landed on her bed and braced her head in her hands, thoughts racing too quickly through her head.

"This isn't about me. This is about you, isn't it, Valentina?"

Valentina sighed and looked over toward Juliana standing at her door. Valentina's face was unexpressive, lips drawn into a thin line.  
"I am well aware of my own feelings, Valentina, and you have no right to state otherwise."

Juliana's voice had grown grave, in anger, and Valentina straightened her shoulders to sit more upright on the bed.

"You're projecting," Juliana accused, pointing a finger at Valentina as her eyes began to glisten, voice shaking. "I'm not the one who isn't in love, you are."

A tear slid down Juliana's cheek, and Valentina stood from the bed and began walking toward her. "Can you just stop crying?" Valentina asked evenly.

"Don't you care about me?" Juliana whispered once Valentina was within touching distance.

Uncomfortable with the question being directed toward her, Valentina flippantly shrugged her shoulders. "I said I wouldn't retire you," she explained. "I got you out of lockup in two hours flat, allow you into my home—I wouldn't do all of that if I didn't."

Juliana's chin trembled as she stared up at  
Valentina in confusion. "Then what's wrong? Why don't you love me? Why won't you just kiss me?"

"I don't know what you want me to say here," Valentina whispered. "It's not that simple for humans. I can't just decide one day that I love you and want to be with you forever."

Juliana sniffled, her tone sardonic as she asked, "If I was human would you love me?"

If Juliana was human at least she'd probably live for more than two more years. "I don't know," Valentina replied vaguely.

Her voice was flat and monotone, and Juliana shook her head. "It's funny, really. You and all of your blade runner colleagues treat me as I'm so abnormal and non-human—"

"I don't treat you like that anymore," Valentina shot back, incensed and offended.  
"Don't you?" Juliana challenged. "You stood there in that kitchen and argued with me about my own feelings for you as if I'm incapable of feeling and knowing what I feel."

"You had to research it," Valentina bit out, eyes tightening as she glared down at Juliana, angry at Juliana for barging into her apartment, her life and getting Valentina caught up and confused about everything she had ever believed in. "I hardly call that knowing what you feel."

"I did have to research it," Juliana conceded with a swallow. "I've never—arousal was a foreign concept." Her shoulders shrugged in the tight, stitched sweater she was wearing and Valentina's eyes briefly traced the roundness of them before they snapped resolutely back to giant brown eyes. "I know what a lesbian is—a woman who is sexually and emotionally attracted to women, dates them exclusively. But what I felt when I was on top of you yesterday, I didn't know it was arousal until I talked to my mother and researched it, and read Cosmo. But I know now, Valentina, and you can't just simply toss my feelings aside because you're the one who doesn't know how to feel."

Her statement shocked Valentina into taking a brief step back, blinking rapidly in surprise at Juliana's audacity to speak so candidly and recklessly.

"And now I'm angry with you," Juliana muttered, brow furrowed as her gaze dropped from Valentina's. "And I do not wish to be around you right now. Have a good day, detective Carvajal."

When Valentina looked up, Juliana was gone. And the faint clicking of her apartment door shutting could barely be heard over Law & Order.

 

"Valentina. Valentina? Yo, Valentina!" Sergio sucked his teeth. "You see? This is the shit I'm talking about," he muttered.  
Lucho nodded. "Normally she isn't this spacey."

"Unless she's obsessing over something, right?"  
Valentina blinked, lazily dragging her eyes from the window she had been staring out of to Sergio, then she pointedly rolled them. "I can hear you."

Sergio's eyes crinkled in amusement. "Good, then order."  
They were at a bar and grill for a late dinner on a Sunday night. Valentina had originally agreed to meet up with her best friends to give her brain something else to chew on other than the fact that Juliana was royally pissed at her. But that didn't seem to be working.  
Mildly embarrassed, Valentina cleared her throat and flipped through the menu. "A shrimp-steak sirloin, please, medium rare."

The waiter's smile was friendly and a touch amused as he nodded and collected their menus.  
Sergio extended his arms and pretended to fly once the waiter left as Lucho furrowed his brow and put on his best Captain Kirk impersonation, "Worlds are conquered, galaxies destroyed...but a woman is always a woman," he muttered lowly.

Valentina's tongue dug into her cheek in annoyance as she watched the two of them laugh at each other's antics. "I'm not that bad."

"You're a total space cadet today."

"Who even says that anymore?" Lucho asked, and Sergio shoved him in the shoulder.

"People still say that."

"Losers, maybe," Valentina joined in with a mirthful grin.

"So, anyway, ask Lucho how much the bass he caught when we went fishing today weighed."  
Valentina looked from Sergio to Lucho whose head now hung in what Valentina guessed to be shame. Her eyebrow rose in curiosity. "How much?"

He grumbled something that Valentina didn't catch and her eyes narrowed. "What?"  
"Four pounds!" Sergio blurted out. "Mine weighed six and half." He hooked his arm around Lucho’s head and drew him closer to roughly rub his knuckles into his hair in a noogie that Valentina, to this day, didn't see the fun in.

Lucho pushed Sergio away and shook his hair out. He had perfected the boy band hair styling in high school and knew exactly how to make each strand of hair fall back into place without touching it. "Chill, dude."

Sergio shrugged and grabbed his glass of soda, pushing the straw aside to put his lips on the glass. His eyes darted to the left where a waitress stood with her back to them, short skirt riding up as she bent over. Sergio's eyes widened as he nudged Lucho. "Look at this one."

Valentina turned around to what the two boys were now ogling over, then turned back to them with a frown. "Why don't you guys ever do that with me?" she asked.

Sergio blinked, surprised at the question, and peeled his eyes away from the waitress to stare at Valentina. "So, we're allowed to acknowledge that you boned a chick for five months back in high school, then?"

Valentina shot him a dirty look.  
"Okay," Lucho cut in. He tilted his head to the side and mumbled, "Look over there. Hot, right?"

"Oh, I would so do her," Sergio muttered.  
Valentina glanced at the short brunette winding through the crowded restaurant for a long moment. "She's really pretty."

Sergio groaned. "You see? That's why we don't include you."  
"What—am I supposed to talk about how much I want to sleep with her?" Valentina shot back, and Sergio and Lucho simply nodded their heads. She scooted back further in the booth she was sitting on and folded her arms across her chest. "Whatever."  
"What about that one?" Sergio asked  
Lucho as a blonde breezed right past their table.

Lucho’s lips twisted up as he gave it some thought. "Five out of ten."  
"Come on, dude, she was at least a seven."  
As they argued over the ranking of the woman who had passed them without a backwards glance, Valentina sunk further into her seat, uncomfortable with what had just transpired. It was kind of unsettling how Sergio and Lucho could drone on about how attracted they were to women yet all Valentina could muster up was a vague comment about the beauty of the woman she could see, and not a possible attraction that could be hidden. 

Maybe Juliana was right. Maybe she didn't know how to feel.  
Except, Valentina knew what arousal was. Had felt it before, it wasn't a foreign concept. But at the same time it wasn't something she always welcomed, either, especially if her arousal presented itself via the most human-like replicant in existence.

It shouldn't have been this way. She shouldn't have been sitting in a booth while out to dinner with her best friends with the mental image of Juliana, naked and dripping the way she was yesterday, in her mind right now, ever. But it was the side effect of having Juliana admit to being in love with her, it had to be.

"And how was your day, Valentina?" Lucho asked with a sneer in Sergio's direction as he rubbed his head. He must have just received another noogie while Valentina wasn't paying attention.  
Valentina sighed as she felt the back of her neck grow hot. "Uneventful."  
"Ready for work tomorrow?" Sergio asked.  
"Am I ever?"  
She scooted back and Sergio removed his elbows from the table as the waiter gingerly placed their food down with a smile before walking away. 

Valentina eyed the steaming grilled steak on her plate with shrimp littered across the top of it, and grabbed her utensils wrapped in a cloth napkin.

Absentmindedly, she wondered if Juliana had ever tried meat, or if she had simply decided from the get-go that eating animals was too 'inhumane.' Valentina had grown up on meat, was an avid lover of bacon, and couldn't imagine living a life without the flavors of bacon, steak, burgers, and chicken, and by association, eggs, yogurt, milk—the list could go on.

Juliana was weird.

Not in the sense of just being a vegetarian. But in the sense that she was a replicant who actually cared enough to declare herself a vegetarian, as if she were human. Valentina's brow furrowed in confusion as she sighed.  
...but a woman is always a woman, indeed. 

Maybe.

"So, how's my mistress doing?"  
Her grip around the knife in her right hand tightened as she cut Sergio a sharp look.  
A knowing, shit eating grin split across his face as he threw his hands up in mock surrender. 

"How's Juliana doing?"

Lucho looked up from his plate, a fry dangling from his lips that he slurped up as if it were a noodle and gulped it down. "That girl who's a part of your case?"

"She's fine," Valentina cut in before Sergio could answer Lucho’s question.  
"How do you know about her?" Sergio asked Lucho after a moment.

"Because you always bring her up," Valentina hissed.

Sergio shrugged a shoulder and turned to Lucho more fully. "The pleasure model that Valentina hasn't tapped yet? Yeah, that one."

"Pleasure model," Lucho mumbled to himself. 

"She's a replicant? Holy shit."

"Keep your voice down," Valentina hissed through gritted teeth. "Like I said a while ago, she's a part of the case Sergio and I are working on."

Lips parted in muted shock, Lucho looked from Valentina to Sergio. Then he grinned. 

"Tell me you've…you know," he mumbled, nudging Sergio.

"I can't!" Sergio cried incredulously. "Valentina's been c-blocking hardcore."  
"Or maybe she doesn't like you," Valentina replied mildly.

"And how would you know?"  
Valentina scratched at her eyebrow, eyes trained on the untouched steak on her plate. She picked her utensils up to give another go at eating as she pointedly ignored the question.

Sergio's head craned to the side in interest at her silence. She was often proud and combative, never one to turn down an argument. His eyes narrowed. "'Sup, Val?"  
"Nothing," Valentina mumbled, taking a bit of her steak. It was juicy, chewy, and her eyes may have fluttered in pleasure at how good it was.

"You're a terrible liar," Sergio accused, and Lucho laughed in agreement.

It was true. Valentina wasn't that great of a liar, but throughout her life most people had failed to call her out on it. Whether it was people in high school who were afraid of her, significant others who were too infatuated with her and wanted nothing more to simply believe everything she said, or her family members during holiday gathers who were too tipsy to even care when she lied and embellished her much less than perfect life.

She sighed and sat her utensils down beside her plate. Whenever she had problems of the romantic nature she shared them with her friends and vice versa. Lately she was lacking in the romantic department, and kind of felt reluctant to share this, but a part of her flat out felt like an ass for throwing Juliana's feelings under the bus just because she was uncomfortable.

"Okay," Valentina exhaled resolutely. "Juliana doesn't like you. She said she's in love with me."

"In love?" Sergio spat in disbelief.

"Keep your damn voice down," Valentina shushed.

"But-but they can't—"

"That's what I've been trying to tell myself, but let's face it: if any replicant could ever love someone it would be Juliana." Valentina ran a hand through her hair in frustration. "She's driving me crazy."

"The girl can't be that bad," Sergio responded.  
Valentina flicked up an eyebrow. "No? She's polite but has no etiquette for social situations. I mean, she walked around my apartment naked because I forgot to leave a towel in the bathroom for her."

Sergio gawked openly at the mental image he had conjured up in his brain. "And that's a problem?"

"I'm not gonna lie, I'd love to have that problem with women," Lucho admitted, and Sergio high fived him, telling Valentina, "Shit, drop her off at my place next time if you can't appreciate a naked woman in your apartment."

"It isn't that," Valentina mumbled. "It's just—she's a replicant, you know?"  
Sergio shrugged. "Not like she's an animal. We can fuck, they can fuck, ergo, we can fuck them. Am I right?"

"Right you are, bro," Lucho laughed.  
"You guys are gross," Valentina groaned. "Are you at all capable of explaining a single concept without equating it to sex?"

Sergio scratched at his chin as he thought the question over. "Nope. So, you've tapped that, then?"

"No," Valentina spat forcefully.  
"Well, one of us has to," Sergio shot back.  
Lucho bit his lip. "I don't know about this," he admitted after a moment. "I mean, she is a replicant."

Sergio scoffed. "You were totally into it a minute ago. The only reason 'you don't know' now is because Valentina's the one who's gonna tap that."

"I'm not tapping anything."

Sergio looked affronted. "Not with that attitude."  
Lucho nodded. "Good."

Valentina jabbed the knife in her hand in his direction. "This isn't about you or whatever reservations you have about me actually having a life."  
His jaw dropped at the accusation. "I'm not trying to dictate your life here."

"All I know is I'd totally spank that if I had the chance," Sergio chimed in, concluding the argument as Valentina ducked her head to hide her burning face with her hair brushing over her shoulders. She took a deep breath to expel her curious thoughts of Juliana naked once again and ate the rest of her meal in silence.

Lucía dropped a stack of papers onto her desk. "I acquired the names of the replicants that attacked you last Friday."  
"One was named Leon," Valentina supplied.

"The other one was Beltrán—the entertainer." Lucía sat on her thousand dollar leather chair and swiveled around to place her elbows on her desk, glancing down her nose at Valentina and Sergio. "Now, I was informed that Leon was shot several times."

Valentina nodded. "Yes, by Juliana Valdés." Her gaze turned confident at the look of muted shock on Lucía's face. It felt odd, pleading a replicant's case when her job was to simply do away with them and move on to the next. But Juliana had saved her life and for that, Valentina wasn't going to take Juliana's and would do anything she could to change Lucía's mind about retiring her.

"I see," Lucía muttered. She leaned back in her seat to steeple her fingers together in front of her mouth. "Has she given you any information?"

"No."

"Then why is she still walking this Earth?"  
Animosity narrowed Valentina's eyes as she sat forward in her seat. "With all due respect, I've explained why already." She reached into the pocket of her coat to produce the same set of pictures she collected from the shoe box in the hotel Friday and placed them on Lucía's desk. "Besides, she's not an important matter right now. These are."

Lucía reached forward to grab the pictures, expression bored as she flicked through them. "What's this—the Carvajal clan?"

"They are pictures of several different families," Valentina answered with barely contained sarcasm dripping from her voice. "I found them at the hotel room the replicants are staying in." She glanced at the photos, then back at Lucía. "I have a theory."  
Lucía scoffed, twisting her chair back and forth. "Let's hear it."

"We know that the kill switch is used to keep the replicants from eventually learning more complex thoughts, emotions," she prefaced. "I think they're already learning. They are close to termination, after all. Leon asked about his age."

"Why?" Lucía interrupted, sitting up in her seat in interest. "They can already calculate their own ages; we know that."

Valentina nodded. "They can. And I don't know why he asked me. All I know is that he was conscious of his age. And I think it's safe to say the remaining two—"

"Three."

Valentina and Sergio swiveled around to find Eva standing in the doorway, arms crossed as she leaned back against the open door. "The remaining three."

Valentina's gaze hardened. "The remaining three," she conceded quietly. "I think it's safe to say that they're all aware of their termination dates." Her brow furrowed instantly. Bewilderment at whether or not Juliana knew of her future termination flooded through Valentina's mind. Juliana was a very much live, in the present type of…replicant, but Valentina had reasoned it was because she was supposed to retire Juliana soon and Juliana wanted to make the most of her time active as possible. Now she wondered if Juliana knew of her termination date at all; she had never brought it up.

"Why don't you put that skin-job you're fraternizing with to good use and see what she knows about this," Lucía ordered.

Valentina bit her lip in uncertainty, leaning back in her seat. She wasn't sure how much Juliana would know about the off-Earth replicants, and possibly more importantly, Juliana was still pissed off with her.  
"Until then, we don't know why these idiots are back on Earth. What we do know is soon it won't matter because we have three more to retire. And we will retire them all," Lucía promised. "Soon."

Valentina's entire face twitched but remained impassive as Lucía picked up her ringing phone. Sergio nudged her gently, and she turned to find him frowning in sympathy at her. 

She shrugged it off, uncomfortable, and faced Lucía as she got off the phone.  
"Eva." Lucía's eyes cut to her by the door. "Take a lunch break. Val, Sergio? Turns out Michel finally woke up from that coma. Thought he'd be a vegetable for sure. Anyway, I want you guys to go down to the hospital and question him."

"Later, honeys," Eva sing-songed in a mocking tone as she strolled out of the office.  
Valentina's jaw shifted back and forth in annoyance. "Why isn't she doing anything?"  
"Because I don't trust the two of you anymore," Lucía decided flippantly. "I'm keeping you busy and in my line of sight at all times. So, settle in ladies, because you're my whipping boys now. And I don't mean that it its traditional definition. I mean, if you screw this mission up because you've turned to the dark side…I'll whip you." She grinned crookedly. "Well, what do you know? Maybe that is the traditional definition."

Sergio slowed to a stop at the red traffic light beaming down on them. He leaned forward in his seat and adjusted his seatbelt to change the radio station. "Can't believe I'm on the naughty list now because of you."

Valentina scoffed, chin in her hand as she gazed out of the car window. "Get over it."  
They were halfway to the hospital downtown during lunch hour traffic that was only serving to mount their joint frustration at their jobs. 

"Didn't think Michel was going to wake up," Sergio replied honestly after a moment. "Been days."

"I'm kind of glad he did. It'd be nice to fully know that Juliana didn't strangle him, and to find out what the replicant that did said to him."

"How's our mistress doing anyway?"

Valentina rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't know. She's upset with me."

Sergio laughed as he looked for his blind spot and changed lanes. "What'd you do?"  
"I kind of brushed off her feelings," Valentina admitted, biting her lip guiltily.

He flicked on his signal light for a right turn and slowed to allow another car to pass. "That doesn't sound like something you'd do at all," he teased.

"Not all of us had fantasies of sleeping with replicants."

"Key word 'had'. Are you saying you 'has' them now?"

She giggled without meaning to, remembering the email Lucho had sent her months ago of a bunny holding a balloon by the string with its mouth and a cutesy caption that read, I can has hugs now?

"Shut up, Sergio."

Sergio glided smoothly into a parking spot and killed the engine. "Me thinks yes."  
"Me thinks mind your business, and lets focus on our job."

Michel was still in the intensive care wing on the third floor, "On the left was what the desk receptionist said," Valentina mumbled. She and Sergio rounded the corner to find the room they were looking for, with a worried Juliana Valdés standing beside it.

Valentina slowed down as Sergio passed by her with a broad grin. "'Sup, girl? Fancy meeting you here."

Juliana's gaze coasted from Sergio to Valentina walking toward them then settled firmly on Sergio. She smiled. "Good afternoon, Sergio."

Valentina sighed.

"Heard Valentina's being kind of an ass."

"Sergio," Valentina growled.

"She was a bit hurtful yesterday," Juliana admitted.

"Can you give us a minute and go talk to the victim, please?" Valentina asked Sergio.

Sergio reached into the pocket of his coat and grabbed his pen and pad. "If Valentina keeps being mean you know who to call." He scribbled down his number on a piece of paper and Valentina snatched it before it even got to Juliana's hand, balled it up and shoved it in her pocket.

Sergio chuckled quietly to himself and pushed the door to Michel’s room open, closing it behind him.

Silence reigned between them, and Valentina used the opportunity to take in Juliana's fidgety, nervous, uncharacteristically closed off posture. 

Her arms were folded across her chest, her legs loosely crossed at the ankle as she glanced down at the sterile tiled floors.  
Valentina instantly remembered that Lupita and Michel were married. That, technically, Michel was Juliana's…father? And that maybe this was all just weird as shit for her. "Are you okay?"

"About what, exactly?" Juliana asked quietly. "The fact that I have an 'almost father' who's in the other room and I don't really know what to say to him, or the fact that the love of my life has the nerve to stand in front of me and inquire about my well-being after she said she isn't in love with me?"

"Juliana, stop." Valentina looked around them to ensure they were alone before taking a step forward. "I didn't say that."

"You didn't say the opposite either."

"Honestly, I don't know what I feel," Valentina admitted lowly. "I didn't go into this thinking that I would have feelings for you at all aside from mild dislike."

Juliana's chin trembled as she turned away. "Well, at least you're honest."

Valentina rubbed a hand roughly down her cheek. "You're being selfish right now, and your age is showing."

"I'm twenty years old," Juliana defended.  
"No, you're two years old, and right now you're acting like a child who's throwing a tantrum because she didn't get her way."

"I'm heartbroken," Juliana whispered, whipping around to face Valentina. "All I want to do is hug you, and kiss you, and make love to you—"

"How do you even know what that is?"   
Valentina asked, brow furrowing in suspicion.  
Juliana shrugged a shoulder. "I watched an educational documentary entitled Erotica 2: Naughty Brunette Needs a Spanking."

Valentina felt her face inflame with heat as her cheeks flushed red. "I—never mind. We'll discuss that later. Just—stay away from things like that. They aren't good for you. And listen, I really need to interview Michel right now. Are you okay?"

Juliana nodded sullenly. "I'm fine." She waved a hand toward the door. "You're free to do your job, detective Carvajal. It's what you're good at, after all."

"Apparently not, if I can't retire you," Valentina grumbled to herself as she opened the door and stepped inside. She closed it behind her and took in her surroundings. Lupita was standing diligently at who Valentina assumed to be Michel’s right side, holding his hand while Sergio stood over Michel, murmuring questions.

She stepped further into the room and cleared her throat to get everyone's attention. Michel Valdés barely lifted his head, and Valentina smiled disarmingly. "Hello, Mr. Valdés. I'm detective Carvajal." She gestured toward Sergio. "This is my partner and we're working to find the replicant who strangled you."

"It was Leon," Sergio told her with a crooked smirk. "Juliana already took care of that, wouldn't you say?"

"That's what I wanted to discuss," Lupita stated from across the room. She gingerly sat Michel’s hand down to stride around the bed over to Valentina. "I really don't appreciate how you've put my daughter in the line of fire like that, detective Carvajal. She looks to you as a friend, someone who will keep her safe, and though reluctant to accept this newfound friendship, I've allowed her to foster one with you because she's taken a particular…liking…to you."

The implication of his statement was clear coupled with his sentence inflection and the fact that Juliana had told Valentina that she tells her father everything. Valentina rubbed at the back of her warming neck as her eyes cut to the wall across the room.

"Please try a little harder to ensure that my daughter doesn't die just because she wants to be your friend."

"With all due respect, sir, your daughter is a grown woman," Valentina replied evenly, vaguely feeling like a hypocrite. "I cannot control what she does or where she goes, which is why she ended up where she was Friday. I protect her to the best of my ability when she is in my presence, as a friend should."

The door creaked open behind them and everyone swiveled around to find Juliana closing it behind her. "Is everything all right in here? I detected elevated stress patterns in your voices."

"Everything is fine," Lupita stated before anyone else could. "Detective Carvajal and I were just having a friendly chat, that's all."

"Though I'm only here to talk with your husband," Valentina replied as she slipped out of that conversation and walked over to Michel. He looked relatively healthy, if only a little fatigued, and Valentina guessed he would be going home soon. "Good afternoon, sir. I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions as well. Then my partner and I will be out of your hair for good."

His eyes closed in what Valentina guessed was relief as he nodded.  
"Now, you're certain Leon—tall, kind of tanned,tall , gray hair—was the replicant that strangled you?"

Michel nodded.

"What is your job at Alacrán’s Corporation, sir?"  
"I already answered that question," Lupita asserted.

Valentina's gaze flicked across the bed to Lupita. "Standard procedure."

"Eyes," Michel rasped. He broke into a fit of coughs and Juliana quickly stood from her seat. "Shall I alert the nurse?"

Lupita waved her down. "He just needs water, sweetheart." She grabbed the glass of water on the table beside her and guided the straw to Michel’s lips.

Juliana folded her arms across her chest and leaned back against the far wall.

Michel collapsed back onto the bed with a gasp. "All I do is eyes," he continued. "Just the eyes."

Valentina nodded gravely. "Did Leon say anything to you, sir?"

Michel shook his head. "Not Leon, no. The other one—he—"

"Did he give a name?"

"Sebastian," Michel whispered. "Asked about longevity, wanted to know kill switch dates."

Valentina casted a sideways glance to Sergio. "Is there anything else of importance that you feel we need to know, sir?"

Michel opened his mouth to speak then broke out into another fit of coughs, and Lupita stood with an abrupt bark of, "I think that's enough for now, detective Carvajal. We'll call you if he has more to say."

Valentina glared at her from across the bed as she placed her pen and pad back into the jacket of her pocket. "Have a good day, everyone. Stay safe." She nodded in Juliana's direction on her way out the door.

"Well, your theory was right," Sergio said once they were out of ear shot. "They're obsessed with their kill switch dates."

"They are," Valentina murmured. "But I don't know what that means."

"Who cares?" Sergio said. "All we need to do is stay by the phone and wait for that hotel manager to call us."

Valentina stopped and held out a hand for Sergio to stop as well as she turned to look at him. "It's been three days and he hasn't called."

"You think he's dead?"

"Valentina?"

She casted a glance over her shoulder at the sound of her name and saw Juliana walking toward them. Valentina turned around fully. 

"May I help you?"

Juliana recoiled slightly at the tone of her voice. "Can I go with you?" Before Valentina could even answer, Juliana's posture straightened, shoulders rolling back. "I mean, I would like to accompany you and Sergio," she declared more assertively and walked between Valentina and Sergio to lead the way to the elevator.

"Fucking Cosmo," Valentina muttered to herself, shoving Sergio as he casted amused, raised eyebrow looks between her and Juliana.


	8. Chapter 8

Valentina didn't have a hat, but if she did she'd probably have to serve it to herself grilled.

That was all she could think about as her hands swam in scalding bubbled water. She grabbed the last slippery plate at the bottom of the sink, scrubbing it clean. The only sound in the kitchen was water sloshing around, but Valentina knew Juliana was there, behind her, probably staring at her.

Having someone there with her was kind of nice and, dare Valentina actually venture, tranquil. It was certainly less lonely than coming home alone to a sink full of dishes, though Juliana was eerily quiet.

Valentina casted a sideways glance to find Juliana sitting at the kitchen table, staring at her heatedly. The slight warmth Valentina felt encase her bones wasn't entirely unwelcomed as she playfully called over her shoulder, "You really aren't human, are you?"

Juliana blinked and seemed to snap out of whatever trance she was in as she recoiled slightly. "Is it possible to be too aroused?" she murmured after a moment.

Valentina busied herself by reaching into the sink to pluck the stopper from the drain. "Is that all you think about now or something?"

"I'm curious."

"While we're on the subject," Valentina continued, talking over the rushing water from the faucet she was using to rinse suds off her dishes, "don't watch any more porn."

Dark eyebrows knitted together in confusion at the foreign term. "Porn?"

Pale cheeks burned with a darkening blush as Valentina ducked her head and took a deep breath. "Erotica 2? Naughty Brunette Needs a Spanking?"

"Yes, I'm familiar. And that constitutes as…porn?" The word tasted decidedly acidic on her tongue, and Juliana's face scrunched up as she said it. "I prefer the term educational documentary."

"I'm sure you do," Valentina drawled sarcastically.

Juliana rested her elbow on the table, chin in her hand as Valentina turned to lean back against the sink and face her. "Do humans not watch porn? If not, why do people make it?"

"Some people watch, like Sergio."

Juliana grinned in amusement.  
"But it's not something everyone does. And it's definitely not something people tell other people about."

"Have you ever watched porn, Valentina ?" 

Juliana asked, eyes widened as if to take in information as she gazed innocuously at Valentina.

"Possibly." Not wanting to reveal more, Valentina spun back around toward the cabinets and opened one to grab a glass.

"I have no reference for sex," Juliana said in defense for her porn watching. "I have no memories of it."

"That's because you're a virgin, so I assume," Valentina mumbled with a frown, wondering why Lupita would create a replicant that would desire sex yet give her nothing to draw knowledge from. 

Shrugging off the thought, Valentina 's head lolled to the side where a proud bottle of bourbon rested in the corner on the counter. It smelled like her father and nostalgia would always tickle her olfactory like now as she popped it open and poured herself a glass. 

"Want some?"

The strong stench reached Juliana's nose and she perked up at the novelty of it. "What is it?"  
Valentina sauntered over and Juliana's gaze dropped curiously to her hips until rising once again to meet her eyes. "Scotch—alcohol."

The glass was gingerly taken in Juliana's grip and lowered for inspection. "I've never had alcohol before," Juliana mused.

She watched Juliana speculate about what was in front of her for a moment longer then prompted, "Try it."

Dark eyes squinted up at Valentina . "You aren't trying to poison me, are you?"

"That would be easier than shooting you," Valentina admitted, only half teasing as she leaned back against the wall, lolling her head to the left to face Juliana. "I'm not trying to kill you, no. Think of it as…helping you gain experience."

The powerful smell tickled Juliana's nose as she brought the glass to her lips, and she grinned, widely.

Valentina 's eyes narrowed. "What?"

"You said 'kill', like, you actually think of me as human now," Juliana mumbled warmly. The lip of the glass parted her own lips and she drew a quick sip of scotch into her mouth. Her eyes clenched shut almost immediately, burning as she drew the cup back and began to cough profusely.

Valentina smiled.

"I think you are trying to kill me," Juliana wheezed with a garbled voice as she reared back in her seat with a deep, needless exhale. 

"Holy…crap."

"Give it back, then," Valentina commanded softly.

Juliana stood with a frown of betrayal and walked the glass back over to Valentina . "Why do you drink such horrid liquids?"

Valentina shrugged a shoulder. "It reminds me of my father."

Interest sparked bright in Juliana's eyes as Valentina tipped her head back a fraction to partially expose her throat. There was still light, barely there bruising that looked more like shadows than anything and with a confused furrow of her brow Juliana licked her lips. "May I see a picture of your parents?"

Valentina 's jaw tightened as the room temperature liquid burned with a sharp kick all the way down. Her head tilted toward the living room on the other side of the kitchen. "You probably already have. Pictures are in there."

Juliana didn't wait for an invitation to scavenge through Valentina 's apartment and walked out of the kitchen promptly.  
A heavy sigh sifted through Valentina 's chest as she leaned heavily back against the wall, wondering just what the hell she was doing. 

She could lose her job over this—not that she cared, but the money was nice, and it was the principle of the matter, the fact that she wasn't supposed to be fraternizing with a replicant.  
"These two people look like you," Juliana mumbled to herself as her gaze ran over every square inch of the photo she walked back into the kitchen with.

"My parents," Valentina sighed. The cup of swirling scotch looked like captured sunlight that Valentina brought to her lips and consumed as she spied the inquisitive quirk of Juliana's lips.

"What was your home life like?"

Valentina took a long sip. "I kind of felt like an outcast. Maybe black sheep is the more appropriate term."

Juliana frowned. Her eyes rose from the picture to look at Valentina with open sympathy. "I'm not familiar with that term. I don't know what a black sheep is, but if you've ever felt like the outcast that I sometimes feel like because I'm not human—especially the day I was in lockup—then I'm sorry."

Valentina just swallowed and shifted the glass to her right hand to rub her left hand along the back of her neck. "I suppose this is when I apologize for the times I've made you feel like an outcast?" She tried for sarcasm but there was a twinge of guilt that weighed down her voice.

"That would be nice," Juliana admitted softly as she took a step closer.

"I am," Valentina mumbled. "It's my job to do this—so apologizing feels weird."

Juliana nodded in understanding. "You were programmed," she said easily enough. "To kill me. But you didn't."

Valentina glanced at her unwaveringly. "I won't. But that doesn't mean they won't."

Juliana flipped the picture over to trace the cursive on the back of it that informed her of the when and where this moment occurred. "I have pictures."

Her words were sobering to dampen the alcohol flowing through the room, and Valentina pulled the cup away to stare openly at Juliana. She seemed to ignore the tail end of Valentina 's statement, and Valentina didn't know what to make of it, could only silently observe Juliana like she always did.

"But they're…not mine," Juliana continued. Her whole face drew up into an expression that just looked like it hurt more than anything. "But if they're not mine, then who do they belong to?" She inhaled a shuddery breath. "Whose memories are these, the ones that I have?"

Heavy silence hung between them, and Valentina busied herself with placing her unfinished glass on the table. She smoothed a hand down the maroon pants she had taken the liberty to work in today, and licked anxiously at her lower lip. "I don't know," she replied quietly, honestly.

Juliana's gaze hardened as it scanned across Valentina 's tiled floors. Her posture grew rigid, curves hardening into straight lines. Valentina could feel the tension radiate off of her, but instead of fearing it, she found herself sympathizing with the obvious frustration Juliana couldn't contain. 

There was so much for her to be angry about and it probably festered day and night. "I just want to get them out of my head," she gritted out.

Juliana tended to swing in moods from one extreme to another and Valentina couldn't help but wonder if this was just her disposition or if Juliana was just a tad faulty. But it was also possible that human 'dispositions' were just a matter of the human itself being faulty. 

Bipolar disorders, depression, even something as mundane as a feeling of apathy were created by the body rewiring itself, the brain releasing too little or too many 

neurotransmitters—being faulty. It was a characteristic humans and replicants alike shared.

"Kind of makes you more human," Valentina suggested in a soft voice, and Juliana immediately looked up to her, hope shown openly on her face. She was so trusting and a part of Valentina didn't want to see anyone destroy that part of her. "Humans have tons of memories they'd wish to forget."

"Really?" Juliana inquired.

"I have a lot of memories I'd give money to have expunged from my brain."  
Tensed shoulders slackened as Juliana placed the picture on the table to face Valentina more fully. "Like what?"  
The very first thought that came to mind was sleeping with Sergio, but Valentina decided to spare Juliana a new memory that she'd probably want to also forget and settled on, "The car accident, the memory of my mother telling me that she consented to my new legs."  
"You would rather not know you had them?"  
Valentina nodded.

"I am…not necessarily happy, but I am thankful to know that I am a replicant," Juliana decided. "Though I could do without the memories."  
"Welcome to being human. It isn't all it's cracked up to be."

Juliana folded her arms around herself at the less than stellar welcoming. "You are always very truthful with me." A ghost of a smile touched her lips. "And for that I love you."

Valentina opened her mouth to speak, but closed it, and bit her lip as she looked away. Her chest grew tight under Juliana's declaration, and she took a deep breath as if to loosen it.

"Do parents lie, Valentina ?"

"Fuck yes," Valentina blurted out without thought. She cleared her throat with a lopsided smile. "They lie a lot. Everyone does."

"You don't lie."

"I lie a lot."

"You haven't lied to me."

"Not yet."

"Don't," Juliana implored. "Okay? Please don't. I already feel like my mother is lying to me."  
"About what?" Valentina cut in, posture straightening.  
Juliana's shoulders lifted into an unsure shrug. "I can't read minds or anything, but I do have a sixth sense."

She seemed serious, so Valentina resisted the urge to scoff off Juliana's talk of sixth sense and instead focused on the worried expression on her face. "Do you think you're in danger?"  
"Oh, no, no—my mother loves me," Juliana assured with a small, fond smile. "Deeply, I'm sure of that."

"Then what would she have to lie about?"

"Have you ever just felt like someone was keeping something from you?"

"Yeah, but most of the time I was just being paranoid."

"I have an expiration date over my head because your blade runner colleagues are trying to kill me, Valentina , I think I have a right to be paranoid."

Valentina just stared down at Juliana who looked so small with her arms folded across her middle, hands fisting into her shirt. Valentina didn't necessarily trust Lupita, but that was based on the fact that she created replicants, not because she may be lying to one.

"I don't know many people," Juliana muttered. 

"I grew up in the corporation. I only really know my mother, Shelby Corcoran, Mr. Alacrán, and you—and Sergio, I suppose." Her eyes were pleading as she looked up at Valentina . "I can't afford to have liars in my life. I have no choice but to trust the few people I have, so just—please never lie to me, okay?"

She couldn't help but wonder how she got to this point, where she owed Juliana anything other than a bullet between the eyes. But what was more alarming was the fact that she was willing to oblige to this request.

And Juliana smiled and did what was possibly her greatest ability to date, molding herself into Valentina seamlessly where Valentina was sure no one would ever fit.

Blue eyes began to sting as she held Juliana close and Valentina couldn't blame it on the alcohol this time.

 

Valentina swatted along her nightstand beside the bed for her alarm clock, flipping a switch until it stopped squawking at her. She buried her face in the pillow with a sigh. "Juliana Valdés, if you're staring at me right now we're going to have a problem."

She heard Juliana giggle, impishly innocent before a head nestled into her pillow, hitting Valentina 's own just a little too harshly until she groaned. "You have a very hard head."

Soft lips brushed against the side of her head. "I'm sorry," Juliana whispered.

"This makes me regret letting you spend the night," Valentina grumbled.

Juliana grinned and nuzzled closer until her nose brushed against Valentina 's earlobe. "Thank you," she sighed into Valentina’s neck. 

"I did not want to wake up in my apartment alone." Lupita had called Juliana last night to inform her that she would be staying with Michel, and with big, doe eyes Juliana had asked Valentina if she could spend the night. How they ended up in the same bed, Valentina could only guess; she had relegated Juliana to the couch.

"Do you always keep such odd hours?" Valentina wondered, knowing Juliana had gotten up at some point in the middle of the night and slid under the covers.

"I sleep when I'm tired and I awake when I'm reenergized, like a human." Juliana's fingers were chilled as they skated along Valentina 's bare waist where her shirt had ridden up and Valentina squirmed and buried her face further into her pillow as Juliana wrapped an arm around her and tugged her closer to her nearly nude form. "Only, I do not require a full eight hours. But I can sleep that long if need be."

Valentina kept her face in the pillow as goose bumps pricked her skin, voice muffled as she prompted, "If need be?"

Juliana still heard her perfectly clear, and nuzzled into Valentina 's ear softly. "It's not fun to be awake alone," she murmured.

Valentina shivered at the low intimacy of her voice. It had been years since she had heard anything even resembling that and she felt her body stir accordingly. She exhaled slowly and shifted her legs to expel energy that was beginning to amass inside of her, ignoring when her legs brushing against Juliana's. "How long did you sleep that day you stayed over?"

Juliana picked at the dyed cotton of Valentina’s night shirt. "Two hours—I was, emotionally, very drained. When I awoke you were asleep, so I went back to sleep. You were asleep for a very long time. I was kind of worried."

Valentina peeled her eyes open and turned her head to take in the aptly described annoying ball of sunshine that was Juliana Valdés. She was too close, and Valentina shifted back a little. "I was tired," she rasped.

Juliana's brows furrowed as she glanced down at Valentina 's neck. It was such a vulnerable part of her body—easy to access, easy to snap. "You could have died that day." 

Her voice was little more than a mournful sigh as her fingers traced down Valentina 's throat.  
Valentina licked her lips in reflex at the feel of a familiar feeling tightening low in her gut that was scarier than actually fearing Juliana would strangle her right now would have been. 

"But I didn't," she choked out.

Juliana smiled then, slow and happy. "Because I saved you," she sing-songed.

Valentina scoffed. "Yeah, yeah."

"And while we're on the subject, you don’t need to feel like I need protection. Don't listen to my mother," Juliana insisted with sharpening eyes.

"You were eavesdropping yesterday," Valentina realized, and Juliana shrugged sheepishly.

"I have good hearing; it cannot be helped. But my mother—she sees me as a child sometimes. I don't understand why."

"You are her child, in her eyes anyway."

"Yes, but she created me to be stronger and faster than any human. And I am." Her fingers rose to push a long lock of silky hair from Valentina’s face. "Don't get yourself killed thinking you need to protect me, when in reality I can protect you."

"I have a gun."

Juliana just hummed and watched the contrast of her thumb against Valentina's cheek. She looked down to her lips and her own quirked in thought. "I think we should kiss."

Valentina grabbed Juliana's hand and pulled back. "I think I should get to work." She turned over to hop out of bed and Juliana flopped onto her back with a frustrated growl.

"Oh, don't even," Valentina responded, spinning back around to find the covers bunched under Juliana's nearly bare torso. 

The only thing she saw fit to wear into Valentina 's bed was a bra and panties. "I already told you I wasn't going there with you, Juliana." Feeling naked in only a shirt and panties, Valentina quickly walked over to her drawer and searched for a pair of shorts to throw on as she began her morning routine.

"Why?" Juliana demanded from the bed. She licked her lips and sat up to throw the covers back and follow Valentina into the hallway. 

She rested against the wall in the hallway to watch Valentina stand in front of the sink in the bathroom a few feet away. "Is it because you don't believe my feelings for you?"

Valentina sighed in impatience at Juliana's questioning and the sluggish pace it took the freezing water running out of the faucet to warm up. She dropped her wash rag into the sink with a sigh. She was so going to be late to work this morning. "I believe you. Okay? Now leave me alone and let me get ready for work."

Juliana recoiled slightly at the change in Valentina's voice, abrupt and cold. She stepped forward, bared feet on hardwood floors and balanced against the doorframe of the bathroom. "Then why?" she asked softly. "Why won't you kiss me? Do you not like me?"

Valentina cut her a sharp look, jaw tightening as she turned back to the mirror and ran the warm wash cloth across her face.

"You said you'd never lie to me," Juliana continued.

"I'm trying not to."

"Then just tell me," she pleaded.

"You wanna know why?" Valentina prompted bitingly as she threw the wash cloth into the sink. She turned around and stepped forward to tower over Juliana with tightening shoulders. "Because you're going to die in two years."

"W-what?" Juliana immediately sputtered with a confused furrow of her brow and a quirk of her lips into an unamused smile. "What are you talking about?"

"Replicants only function four years, and then they terminate. It's a practical function that Alacrán’s Corporation has used for years, and every replicant has a kill switch." Valentina 's voice was cold and unyielding suddenly in her own frustration and Juliana wilted in despair under her words. "And you can't—it's not fair to me for you to expect me to fall in love with you when you're just going to die. It's selfish."

Juliana stood there motionless as her gaze withered and fell away to the tiled bathroom floors. Valentina stared at her for a long moment until she felt her eyes sting, then shouldered past Juliana and back into her room to change.

She rubbed at her stiff knee as she stood in front of her chest of drawers, shucking her shorts down her legs before rummaging for a pair of jeans. Today was probably going to be a messy one.

Catching the time on the clock resting on her nightstand, Valentina stiffly walked out of her room, deciding to forgo coffee to at least attempt to make it to work semi-on-time. "Do you want me to give you a ride home?" Her eyebrow flicked up when no reply came and she walked into the living room to find it empty. No clothes, no Juliana. She had gotten dressed and left.

"Fuck," Valentina muttered darkly to herself, shucking the granola bar in her hand into the closed door that Juliana had long ago walked out of. "Fuck, fuck, fuck."

 

"Well, aren't you just a ray of sunshine?"

"Not today, Sergio."

Sergio shook his head and plopped down on the chair in front of Valentina 's desk. "Someone hasn't had her coffee."  
Valentina shot him a look then went back to checking her email. "Among other things." There was a forward message from her mother that promised to brighten her day with its title and Valentina absentmindedly clicked on it as she awaited Sergio's inevitable reply.

"Honestly, I don't get why you don't just bone this chick already. Anyone who gets under your skin like that should at least fuck you for your troubles."

'Hang in there' was the message, coupled with a cat…hanging in there. Valentina exited out of her browser with a sigh. "I should probably call my parents," she muttered.

"Tell your mom I said hi. She was a total milf when we were growing up," Sergio told her with a fond smile and a far away look in his eyes.

She placed her elbows heavily on table to glare at him. "Why are you here?"  
At that, Sergio sighed heavily. "Our hunch was right."

"About what?" Valentina asked carefully.  
"The hotel manager is dead. I stopped by there yesterday to check in on him after you mentioned at the hospital yesterday that we hadn't heard from him in a while." He ran his hands through his hair and puffed out a breath. "The employees had been keeping it low-key for days because they were afraid calling attention to it would draw the replicants back."

"They're gone?"

Sergio nodded gravely.

"Well, where the hell are they?"  
She knew the answer before Sergio even said, "I don't know," and slumped back against her chair in befuddlement.

"They're on the move," Sergio muttered. "Who knows what the hell they're planning. Who even knew they could plan?"


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double update for the two days delay. 
> 
> Y’all deserve everything beautiful thank you for all your thoughtful comments.
> 
> I’d like to remind everyone that this is an adaptation to a faberry story called the heart is a machine. 
> 
> I might adapt some of my other all time fav fics
> 
> ENJOY!

"And she really didn't know?" Sergio asked incredulously. "I mean, I know the girl's naïve, but come on."

Valentina shook her head, glancing out the window. "No one told her, and she's spent two years thinking she was human, why would she know of a kill switch? Lupita gave her false memories of some other child, or she made them up—either way it was essentially brainwashing her into seeing herself as human. All she knows is that she's a replicant and blade runners are trying to kill her."

"Retire her," Sergio corrected softly.

"Yeah," Valentina mumbled.

Sergio slid to a smooth stop along the curb and shifted the gear into park. He casted a sideways glance at Valentina and hesitated for a moment before prompting, "Could you?"

Valentina allowed the purr of the engine to distract her until Sergio shut the car off. "No," she finally choked out. Her eyes narrowed, then shifted to Sergio. "Would you?"

He scratched at his mohawk, looking apprehensive, and Valentina couldn't blame him. This was the job, after all. "For you, I wouldn't," he responded carefully. "But someone will."

Valentina nodded. "That's what I told her."

"And what'd she say?"

"She didn't even respond." She sucked her teeth in annoyance. "What kind of person doesn't care that they're going to die?"

"She's not a person."

"You know what I mean, Sergio!" Valentina shot back sternly, though the twinge of desperation in her voice made her statement less intimidating.

"Hey, hey, don't yell at me," he responded in defense.

Valentina sighed. "I'm sorry." Her gaze dropped from his as she admitted, "I'm just a little keyed up. I don't ever know what she's thinking. She's honest, sometimes too honest. But sometimes she just doesn't respond normally or at all and I don't know what's going through her mind. I don't even know where she is right now." Valentina sunk back further into her seat. "She left my apartment this morning upset because I told her, and I don't know where she went."

"So call her."

Valentina rubbed at the back of her neck self-consciously. "I don't have her number."

"Call Valdés."

"I may have to," Valentina mumbled. She sat there for a moment, then unbuckled her seatbelt as restlessness gripped her. "Let's do something."

"Like our jobs?" Sergio quipped as he slid out of the car.

The bell signaling their entrance into the hotel rang above their heads as they walked through the double doors. The same clerk that was there last week when they visited glanced up and away when he recognized the sneer on Valentina's face. She didn't like being played, especially when she was trying to do her job. She marched up to the desk and slammed her hand down on it. The boy nearly jumped out of his pressed, collared shirt, and Sergio slid from behind Valentina to stand to his full height beside her.

Valentina's voice was abrupt when she simply said, "I'm looking for your manager."

The bellboy nervously looked between the two of them, then bit his lip. "I—he-he's not here right now."

"Well, when will he be back in?"

Suddenly the bellboy began to look queasy as he clutched at his stomach and took a step forward. "He's…dead," he whispered.

She blinked as if she were as clueless as he was, then turned to Sergio. "You don't say."

"This is so surprising," Sergio joined in.

Valentina angled a cold look at the boy behind the desk. "You didn't think of calling us to inform us of his death since we had been waiting three days for a phone call from him?"

"I—well—"

"Are you a moron?"

"No, it's just—we didn't want the replicants to come back and kill us," he sighed, anxiety creasing his entire face. "He said he'd come back."

"Who?" Valentina demanded, grabbing for the pen and pad in her coat.

"Sebastian's his name. Please don't tell him I told you."

Valentina scoffed. "We're going to retire them; they're not coming back."

The bellboy didn't appear the least bit relieved, to which Valentina didn't really care about. "What's your name?"

"J-Josh," he whispered hesitantly. "You're not going to tell them that, are you?"

"Josh, when did your manager die?"

"Two days ago."

"Is that when the replicants left?"

Josh pursed his lips and nodded gravely, and Valentina's eyes narrowed. "Tell me what happened."

"They came back in after being gone for days, and my manager immediately left to call you," Josh explained. "Sebastian must have gotten suspicious because my boss was acting a little weird. I told Sebastian not to follow him, but he did anyway," Josh rushed out. He shifted uncomfortably. "Next thing I heard was my boss yelling. Then it got quiet, and Sebastian walked out all calm like nothing had happened. And he just—he smiled at me, like he hadn't just killed someone. Then he said he'd kill me, too, if I picked up the phone and called the police. Then he and the other replicant left."

"Beltrán," Valentina mumbled, and Sergio nodded. Her gut twisted with dread at the description of Sebastian smiling after murdering the hotel manager. Replicants didn't respond properly in social situations and Sebastian's inappropriate response reminded her of Juliana's lack of response when Valentina reminded her that although she wasn't going to be the one to retire her, someone else would.

She cleared her throat, and sighed as she deposited her pen and pad back into her coat. "Where's the body?"

"His family has it—him," Josh stammered. "The funeral is soon. They were devastated."

Valentina nodded, uncomfortable, and took a step back. "Is there anything else you to tell us before we leave?"

"He looked awful," Josh admitted with a sympathetic shake of his head.

"Was he strangled?" It was typical replicant M.O. to assess the most vulnerable part of a human and strike there.

Josh's head bobbed up and down. "And his eyes—they were all mushy," he described. "Like Sebastian had just…mashed his thumbs in, and—"

"That's enough," Valentina cut in, stomach roiling with unease. "Thanks. If we need more, we'll be in touch."

It wasn't until either of them were out of the hotel when someone finally spoke.

"Mashing the guy's eyes in? Seemed personal," Sergio muttered as he fished his keys from the inside of his jacket.

Valentina closed her coat around her and wrapped her arms around her middle to fight off the chilled wind as they walked to the car. "Sounds like he was angry. Impatient."

"Impatient?" His tone was colored in amusement as he looked over at her. "Like he has an important dentist appointment and can't be late?"

It was meant to be a joke, but Valentina was mulling over his words anyway. "Can't be late…" she mumbled to herself.

"Where to now? Work?"

She snapped out of her reverie at the mention of her rancid job and the people there who no longer trusted her, alienated her. "No."

Sergio stopped, hand on the car handle and spied Valentina walking across to the other side. "Then where the hell we going?"

Valentina looked up to the overcast sky, the sun barely visible on a dreary Tuesday morning, and wondered when the hell this was all going to be over. "Alacrán’s," she murmured after a moment. "Let's go to the corp."

"How much do you think they make a year?" Sergio asked conversationally inside the elevator. It was made of titanium and polished to shine, and Sergio touched every surface of it. He squatted to the ocean green and cream tiled floors and swiped a finger across it to see how spotless it was.

"Too much," Valentina muttered. Despite her tentative friendship with Juliana, her dislike for the company still remained.

"I totally should have been working here. Could have saved up to move to the Bahamas or something."

Valentina watched the numbers count upward as they ascended floors. "What are you going to do after this?" she wondered after a moment. Half the money was already transferred into their accounts, thousands of dollars that Sergio really could have used to up and move to the Bahamas if he wanted to.

Sergio shoved his hands into his pockets and sighed. "Don't know. Blow it all on video games?"

"At least put some in savings," she scolded with a roll of her eyes.

He shrugged. "What are you gonna do?"

The elevator dinged open, and Valentina let the question die as they walked onto the main floor. The same lady, Shelby Corcoran, was there behind the desk, and Valentina glanced around her, solidifying what Juliana had told her: that this was the only place she had frequented aside from her home in two years. Valentina thought it maddening to only live between two places, but figured if this was all Juliana had known, she wouldn't have gotten curious to learn more. Until very recently.

"I'm here to see Dr. Valdés, please."

Shelby's posture was dismissive as she angled away from Valentina toward her computer. "Do you have an appointment?"

"No. I don't."

"Then please sit over there," Shelby demanded, leveling Valentina with a look before glancing away.

Sergio whistled out a breath, feeling the tension in the air as he took a step back and turned away from Valentina's tightening posture. Valentina's voice was smooth as silk and cold as ice as she smiled at Shelby, sharp and feral. "Listen, we've played this game before. And the last time you tried to stonewall me, I threatened to call for backup. That can still be arranged."

"Detective Carvajal, I believe you've done enough, wouldn't you agree?" Shelby replied acidly. "You've waltzed into this place and ruined a relationship between a woman and her daughter—"

"What does that have to do with you?" Valentina asked abruptly, genuine curious as she leaned forward across the desk. The memory of Juliana saying she was close to Shelby began to tickle her brain.

Shelby's entire expression blanked and shut down as she turned away from Valentina. "Please have a seat."

Valentina braced her hands on the edge of the desk, tendons flexing in her mounting frustration. "We have yet another death on our hands due to these fucking skin-jobs you guys kept spitting out, and now we have no idea where the hell they are." She hooked a thumb over her shoulder. "I'm going up that elevator whether I have your permission or not. You just better hope I don't see anything I'm not supposed to while I'm up there." She spun around quickly, coat whirling in momentum behind her and Sergio casted a glance back to Shelby looking disgruntled as she grabbed for the phone and sped up.

"You might want to hop in that elevator quick."

Valentina mashed the button and glanced back to Shelby as well. "Security?"

"Let's just hope they're human."

Her blood ran cold at the possibility of replicant security guards and she mashed the button again. Double doors parted, and Valentina casted one more look over her shoulder before stepping back and walking away from it. "We'll take the stares."

"What the hell?" Sergio protested behind her as he jogged to catch up.

"How much do you wanna bet she has a button behind that desk that can stop the elevator?"

He considered it for a moment, then pursed his lips in appreciation. "Smart thinking."

"I wasn't a straight A student for nothing."

They took the stairs two at a time to arrive to the fifth floor. Sergio poured off the last step, staggering for breath as Valentina breezed past him. "How are you not near death?" he wheezed.

Valentina shrugged. "Durable legs, remember?"

"Yeah, legs not lungs."

"You should exercise, dough boy," she teased.

He immediately stood to his full height and glowered down at her. "Not funny. At all."

"Detectives Carvajal and Sergio, is there anything I can help you with?"

They both swiveled around to find Juliana standing several feet away from them in the middle of the hallway and blocking Lupita’s office door.

Sergio's eyes nearly bulged out of his head. "I think this is the security that receptionist called on us," he muttered from the corner of his mouth.

Valentina's lips quirked in annoyance, not really knowing what to make of this situation. "We're here to speak with Dr. Valdés for routine questioning."

Juliana clasped her hands behind her back. "May I inquire what for?" Her voice was detached and emotionless, something Valentina had never heard from her before. She looked so much like a...robot.

"Hell hath no fury," Sergio whispered. Valentina elbowed him in the gut.

She took a step closer toward Juliana. "A replicant recently murdered a hotel manager, brutally actually, and we'd like to question Lupita to see if she possibly knows where they are now. We have reason to believe that they're planning something. What, I don't know." She watched Juliana's posture falter in reaction to learning of the murder and continued to walk closer.

"I'm certain my mother isn't aware of their whereabouts," Juliana responded after regrouping.

Valentina's eyes narrowed. "Are you lying to me?"

"I do not lie."

"But your mother does," Valentina countered. She watched Juliana's expression crumble as she came to a stop in front of her and suddenly regretted her words. Juliana glanced away and folded her arms across her middle to look small. Valentina sighed and softened her tone as she asked, "Have you asked her about it?" referencing Juliana's kill switch.

Juliana shook her head, not meeting Valentina's gaze. "I do not have the courage to," she admitted. She licked her lips and bit her bottom one before looking back up at Valentina. "I do not wish to talk to you right now, so please leave."

Valentina glanced over Juliana's shoulder to Lupita’s office door all the way down the hallway. This had been the third reported case of replicants attacking humans on Earth, and the first case where she literally felt that there was blood on her hands. It didn't sit well with her, and if she didn't do her job to the best of her ability, which was to retire every single replicant, then she would always feel guilty about it.

Juliana's eyes were full of defiance, but Valentina had always been good at reading people, and could pick up on the flicker of hopefulness hidden. She sighed, and her posture slouched as she murmured, "So, you're not talking to me, then?"

Juliana reacted to the intimate tone her voice had taken on instantly, looking suspicious yet intrigued. Her arms folded tighter around herself as if to protect herself against Valentina. "No."

Valentina nodded and looked down for a moment. She scuffed her boot across the floor then glanced up at Juliana from beneath her eyelashes as she scratched her eyebrow. "I've had people walk out on me before, but not when I was being so charming."

"That was not charming," Juliana argued. Her lips twitched as her posture relaxed, and Valentina kind of smiled, genuinely, before taking a step closer.

"I admit that was…insensitive," Valentina replied honestly. "I was frustrated. Okay? You were just being pushy again and I kind of just didn't want to talk about it."

"I asked for honesty and you gave it to me. But that didn't mean that you had to treat me the way you did," Juliana mumbled, dragging a hand roughly down her face before she met Valentina's eyes again with sorrow. "But I am still angry with you, because you will not give us a chance."

Glancing over her shoulder, Valentina eyed Sergio who was several feet away, on his phone and hopefully not paying attention. She turned back to Juliana and took a step closer to keep their conversation private. "You're going to die," she asserted quietly, emphatically.

"Everyone dies," Juliana defended. "That stops no one from loving. No one, but you."

"I can't talk about this right now."

"You can't ever talk about it."

"I'll tell you what," Valentina prompted, looking for an opening, a compromise, anything that would get her into Lupita’s office for questioning. "Tonight. Tonight we'll talk, all you want, if you let me in to speak with your mother."

Juliana was suspicious again as she regarded Valentina evenly. "I sincerely hope you aren't lying."

"I'm not."

"She knows nothing."

"I'll be the judge."

Juliana dropped her hands to her side as if she was ready to put up a fight. Then she stepped aside with a long, drawn out sigh, and gestured for Valentina to walk through.

Valentina nodded in her direction with a, "thank you," before motioning for Sergio to follow. Her knuckles rapped on Lupita’s open office door as she took a step in. She was on the phone and glanced up at Valentina briefly before returning to her conversation. "Michel? I—honey? I have to go now, okay? We'll talk later. Yeah, yeah. Love you, too. Bye now."

Her eyebrow quirked at the one-sided exchange she could hear as she walked further into the office. "I see the two of you are on the mend."

"Not that it's any of your business, detective, but yes; he and I are…trying."

"And where does that leave Juliana?" Valentina found herself asking.

At the mention of her daughter, Lupita faltered, clearing her throat and smoothing down the pocket of her lab coat. "Nothing is set in stone right now—"

"That roundabout way of speaking is doing nothing to answer my question," she cut in, glaring down at Lupita from where she was standing in front of her desk.

"If she'd like to move in with Michel and me, she's certainly welcome."

"Move in?" Her eyebrows creased in confusion. "Have you even spoken to her about any of this?"

"She's grown distant," Lupita defended.

"Yeah, because you've thrusted this man that she doesn't even know into her life. She has a right to be distant."

Lupita shot up from her seat at the accusation, muscles tight as she leaned across the desk. "I believe I know how to take care of my own family," she barked.

Sergio laid a heavy hand on Valentina's shoulder as she leaned forward. He curled his fingers into her coat to get her attention and pulled her back. "This is a business meeting, Val, not a personal one." He pulled her back fully and stepped between her and Lupita. "Sorry for the interruption, ma’am, but we're actually here to ask some routine questions."

Lupita’s posture slackened and with a flick of her wrist she motioned for Sergio to continue as she sank back down into his seat.

Valentina casted a quick glance outside of the office into the hallway to find it empty. She sighed and turned away, remembering she had a job to do.

"Have the replicants tried to contact you at all, ma’am?" Sergio asked.

Lupita shook her head. "I haven't had contact with Sebastian and Beltrán since I created them."

"Would you perhaps know where they would be going? A hideout, anything?"

Again Lupita shook her head with wide, dark eyes that reminded Valentina of Juliana. She braced an arm on the desk and rubbed at her five o'clock shadow with her right hand. "What they are doing now, detective, is something that is new. Do you understand? They were not taught to run and hide; it is something that they've likely picked up from less than stellar off-Earth humans. Here at Alacrán’s Corp we create replicants that help with the building plans going on off-Earth. We do not create them to lie, cheat, steal, murder. Those things they learn from humans, sadly."

"What about the kill switch?" Valentina prompted from across the room by the door.

Lupita looked over at her. "What about it?"

"Well, they're close to the date, aren't they?"

"I wouldn't know. I've made hundreds, thousands of replicants over the years. To know that type of specific information for just one replicant, I would have to have their files on hand to know when they came off the lot—"

"Guille Garcia said he was three years and ten months."

Lupita’s mouth clamped shut. Then she muttered, "They're close, then. Very close."

Valentina pushed off the door. "That's all the questions we have for now."

Sergio shot her an odd look, but conceded. "Thank you for your time, Dr. Valdés."

"I look forward to the day where this is all over, and I can live without blade runners up my ass."

Valentina muttered, "Something tells me you like having things up your—"

"Okay," Sergio drawled. "Have a good day." He grabbed Valentina by the arm and pulled her out of the door. Once they were alone, he snickered. "That was totally something I would say." He went to high five her, but Valentina blew it off.

"I never thought I'd see the day where you'd handle a situation more professionally than I would."

"When Lucía said you had impeccable charm? She really meant me."

"Get bent."

 

Valentina flicked on a light in her empty apartment. She nudged the door closed behind her and twisted the lock as she sat her keys on the table.

It was quiet, the only sound in the entire apartment being the sole of Valentina's shoes scuffing listlessly across polished wooden floors. She had forgotten just how quiet her apartment could be without Juliana's big presence.

Scratching absentmindedly at her chin, Valentina walked through her living room. She found herself in the kitchen, and she wondered why she never bought a new table as her fingers ghosted over the indentation permanently embedded, kind of like Juliana herself—an unapologetic, deep impression in Valentina's life that caused a lump of emotion to clog her throat to just think about, because Juliana wasn't permanent like the gash in Valentina's table was; but what was permanence anyway?

The doomsday argument already ventured that there was a ninety-five percent chance of extinction in just over nine thousand more years. The average life expectancy of a woman was around eighty years. Humans weren't permanent beings. Valentina wasn't a permanent being. Everyone dies. Juliana had a point, but the chances of Valentina surviving the next two years outweighed Juliana's zero percent by a landslide.

And she wanted nowhere near Juliana when she finally died.

But the deafening silence in her apartment rang loudly through her head, and Valentina wanted no part of this, either. She couldn't have her cake and eat it, too. She had never been that lucky in life.

It was honestly astonishing how many memories had built up in the kitchen over the past several weeks to the point where Valentina felt like she was being smothered. 

Her feet carried her into the hallway and she casted a glance down the narrow space to her bedroom, a dark cave that threatened to swallow her with even more memories of Juliana in her bed. Instead, she turned away, back into the living room and ignored the couch Juliana frequented to slump back against her own usual.

Her parents had always been wonderful at solving dilemmas for her when she was younger. If Valentina could take a guess, it was probably around middle school, puberty, when her parents had dropped the ball, not because they didn't care. But because they cared about the wrong things, like ensuring their daughter was physically beautiful and consenting to plastic surgery instead of reassuring her that she was beautiful the way she was, inside and out. Her mom had even pulled another variation of the same theme when she consented to Valentina's replicant model legs, just so she could win prom queen, while she was in a coma after the car accident.

A rift had grown between Valentina and them at the exact moment of the first mishap, and hadn't been mended since. But there were times like now where she hadn't spoken to her parents in a while, was weary with all life had thrown at her, and really just needed to hear the gentle timbre of her mother's voice, or the protective sternness of her father's.

"Hi, Valentina."

Valentina exhaled shakily into the phone. She crossed her legs on the couch and rested her elbow on her knee, cradling her head in her hand. "Hey, mom."

The sound of Judy's relieved sigh weighed down on Valentina's chest as her grip around her cell phone tightened. "It's good to hear from you, Valentina, especially since I heard from the news today that a local hotel manager was murdered by one of those replacements."

"Replicants, mom," Valentina corrected with a hollow chuckle. "They're called replicants."

"Well, whatever they are, they're dangerous," Judy decided with a huff. "I need to know that my daughter is safe."

"I'm safe. I'm home."

"I worry about you day and night, yet you won't ease my worries by picking up the phone and calling every once in a while," Judy continued. "Children these days. Once they move out they start to think they're grown."

"I am grown," Valentina argued.

"Barely."

She picked at a loose thread in the seam of her jeans and contemplated a shower. "How's dad?"

Judy scoffed at the very mention of him. "Fine. He's somewhere around here watching House, I'm sure."

"And how are you guys holding up?"

"Squabbling like the Robinson's used to, but other than that, all right."

"Okay, that's good," Valentina mumbled. It was the best anyone could ask for, honestly.

"Honey, you sound so sad."

Her mother had an uncanny ability to read others, and Valentina sunk back into the cushions of the couch with a weary sigh. "I'm not sad," she fretted. A long stretch of silence passed in which neither of them spoke. Judy was waiting her out, and Valentina sucked her teeth in annoyance. "I'm not," she reiterated. "I just…realize I could be happier than what I am now, and I'm not taking the opportunity. And for that…I'm a little sad, yeah," she finished with a murmur.

Judy hummed in understanding from halfway across town. "You teenagers can be so moody."

"I'm twenty-one," Valentina replied dryly, and Judy chortled.

"So, you are." She cleared her throat to abruptly ask, "Do you want to end up like me and your father?"

Valentina frowned. "You guys are—"

"Miserable, grouchy, old people?"

"I wouldn't say that…"

"Well, I would, and I do. Now, Valentina, sometimes you've got to grab life by the horns. Take those acting classes if you want to."

Her eyebrow flicked up at the last of Judy's statement before she cut her eyes to the right. "Yeah," she drawled. "Sure. Thanks, mom."

"Mhm. Now, I've got to go. American Idol is on and I've got my money on the fella from Virginia."

"Yes, go," Valentina replied with a wave of her hand into the empty apartment. "Wouldn't want to tie up your line and keep you from voting. Though you're only guaranteeing yourself arthritis within the next ten years."

Judy ignored Valentina's sardonic reply. "Call more often," she demanded, tone scolding. "I hear from my oldest more than I hear from my baby."

"I'll call more," Valentina promised. The call ended and her gaze skirted to the top right of her phone screen to find that it was eight pm. Juliana was supposed to visit, and though Juliana kept odd hours and came and went as she pleased, she was typically at Valentina's house by now.

Valentina cursed herself for not having Juliana's number, and could do nothing but scroll through her contacts to find someone to talk to in order to keep from obsessing over the time dwindling away.

She wasn't in the mood today.

She had woken up on her couch—having accidentally slept there the night before—stiff, with one hard spring digging into her back. There was no more creamer for her coffee, and the line at Starbucks was entirely too long for Valentina to grab a coffee and make it to work on time.

The double doors swung open widely as Valentina pressed through, shoulders rolled back as she ignored the sneers of betrayal marring everyone's faces as if she had allowed a replicant to murder a human right in front of her. She was working the case to the best of her ability, more so than the others who just sat behind their desks and took phone calls from empty leads who just wanted the bounty money for tipping off a blade runner to possible whereabouts of replicants.

Since word had gotten out about her knowledge of an extra replicant at Alacrán’s Corp, Valentina had been demoted to the dog house, leaving Eva as Lucía’s favorite who had to do nothing while Valentina and Sergio risked their lives on the streets every day. Valentina had lost count of how many times she had been strangled.

It would be like this until the last replicant was retired. Then she could leave the blade runner academy behind for good. But until then she had to endure the odd looks and whispers behind her back. It was nothing new to her, however. In high school people talked about her, band geeks when she was popular, and the popular kids when she had cracked under the pressure and finally decided to ditch them to become an outlier.

Dirty looks and snickers at her social leprosy were nothing new to her, but today found her gritting her teeth with an extra side of annoyance to go as she cut a glare to the most obvious person with a staring problem.

The woman was a plump blonde named Patty, and the second Valentina chose to boldly make intense eye contact for a long, unflinching moment, Patty looked away.

Valentina continued through the main room and into her office, slamming the door shut. The tension at work seemed to be ratcheted up today, and she couldn't tell if she was the one in a heightened state because of her irritation, or if something was wrong.

“Val."

At the sound of her nickname, a single letter uttered with such a stern quality, Valentina glanced down at the work-issued phone on her desk that was blinking with Lucía’s extension. Lucía rarely made calls, preferring to harass her employees in person. "Yeah?"

"Meeting in my office. Now."

The ominous message ended there, and Valentina stood sluggishly. "I can't take this shit today," she muttered to herself. "Really can't."

Eva was predictably already there, looking high and mighty with one leg crossed over the other, judgmental gaze firmly landing on Valentina as she crossed the threshold into the room.

Sergio was two seats down from Eva, and Valentina's familiar chair was snug in the middle, but she stayed hovering by the doorway, only stepping further inside to close the door when Lucía signaled her to.

Lucía’s gaze was cold, her posture combative as she leaned forward in her seat as if she was going to lunge across her desk at Valentina. "Alacrán is dead."

Valentina blinked, and took a step back, as Eva finally whipped her head around from glaring at Valentina long enough to express her shock. "Dead? As in pushing up daises, dead? So, what, was he like, killed by a replicant, or something?"

Lucía cut her eyes to Valentina then back to Eva. "Given how heavily secured the corporation is, where Alacrán was found murdered, we have reason to believe that he was murdered by someone or something that was already inside the facility."

Valentina's blood ran cold at Lucía’s line of deduction. Her voice was clipped, daring as she pointedly asked, "What are you trying to say?"

Eva shot from her seat at the challenge. "I'll say it for her. Chances are your BFF replicant murdered him."

She bristled at the accusation as if she herself had just been accused. "She did not murder him, Eva."

"And how would you know?" Eva shot back with a scornful smirk, goading Valentina into an argument. "You been shackin' it up at your place with her?"

Valentina side-stepped the obvious trap and dared to walk closer. "She's never murdered anyone."

"She just shot a replicant in the head three times last week!"

"That's not murder!" Valentina asserted. "And she was protecting me!"

Eva looked around the room as if to engage the other occupants as she prompted, "Look, let's just call it what it is. Valentina's compromising this case because she opened her home and probably her legs for that lifeless, skin-jo—"

Tears leapt to Eva’s eyes suddenly as her head jerked with the momentum from Valentina slapping her face. Sergio sprang up from his seat and practically dive tackled Eva toward the other side of the room when she lunged from Valentina.

"Whoa, woah! Everyone calm down!" His arms wrapped securely around Eva’s waist and he clutched her to his chest. "Normally I'd totally be down for chick's wrestling but only in bikinis and only if there's mud involved."

Eva growled, "Get off me!" and wrestled out of Sergio's hold, roughly tugging down the hem of her shirt and clenching her fists at her side to keep from rubbing away what little dignity she had left and the sting on cheek.

Valentina shook aching tingles out of her hand, wincing at how much it hurt and how quickly she had lost control. Her attention shifted to Lucía who stood from her chair, silent through the whole exchange. She walked around her desk and continued until she was directly in front of Valentina.

"I want your badge, and your gun," Lucía told her simply. "You're done here."

Her breath hitched inaudibly in surprise. Lucía had threatened their badges, mostly Sergio's, a few times over the years, but she had never actually followed through on her threats.

Lucía lips curled cruelly, the creases in her face becoming more pronounced as she glared down at Valentina. "And since you can't retire the replicant at Alacrán’s Corp, I'll do it for you."

"Or I'll do it," Eva called from across the room. She sounded weird and it was probably because the whole left side of her face was swollen. "With pleasure."

Valentina's gaze was firmly locked on Eva, anger rolling white hot through her and seeming to encase her bones until her hand visibly shook as she pulled her gun from inside of her coat. She hesitated for a moment, the muzzle pointed across the room, and Eva’s eyes widened, though the safety was on. Valentina took a deep breath, and broke eye contact to thrust the gun into Lucía’s hand, followed by her badge.

Lucía held the weight of Valentina's gun in her hand, and tossed her badge into the trashcan. "You've been discharged, Valentina."

Valentina slammed her car door shut, and stalked up the stairs to her apartment building.

"Good evening, Valentina!"

Her shoulders tensed and she swiveled around to go from frowning to smiling, falsely, to greet, "Good evening, Mrs. Scott!" through clenched teeth.

The woman looked at her oddly for a moment, probably a little unnerved by scary smile on Valentina's face, before she waved once more and stepped into her car.

Valentina turned back around and stormed into her apartment building.

"Ms. Carvajal, I need your rent."

"Soon, Mr. Graves, soon," she growled, tugging herself onto the first step by the railing. The elevator had been out for the past few days, but she found that stomping up the stairs to her apartment expelled some frustration.

"No stomping, young lady!" Mr. Graves called after her, and Valentina stomped even harder up each and every step.

She jingled her keys out of her purse and huffed in irritation as she tried to search for the key to her door.

She grabbed her key by two fingers, jiggled it free from the clutter of the remaining keys, and looked up to find Juliana rising to stand on her doorstep.

Valentina dropped her keys.

Juliana pushed into motion with a quiet murmur of, "Let me help you," and before Valentina could even bend down to grab them herself, Juliana was already clasping them in her hand and rising again to drop them in Valentina's hand. She stared up at Valentina for a long moment with glistening eyes and wet eyelashes. "Hi."

Valentina swallowed thickly, shaking her head minutely back and forth because she was so overwhelmed and didn't know what to say or do. She looked up and over Juliana's shoulder to find two suitcases beside her door. Her eyebrows dipped in confusion. "You have…luggage."

Juliana wiped her eyes and looked away with a shy nod. "Can I live here with you? Please?" she mumbled.

Everything felt like too much.

Everything felt like too much, yet not enough as she stared down at Juliana with so many burning questions. Namely, why was she crying? Why did she suddenly want to move in? Did it have to do with Lupita? Where the hell was her own life going from here, and where did Juliana fit in, if at all?

"We should probably go inside, talk about this," Valentina told her, voice strained and scratchy even to her own ears. And to Juliana's, if the concerned frown on her face was any indication.

Valentina grabbed a suitcase and Juliana grabbed the other as they walked into the apartment. Not even wanting to deal at the moment, Valentina dropped the suitcase in the living room and continued to the bottle of scotch in the kitchen. She grabbed a glass from the cabinet and held it as she poured herself a glass.

Juliana hesitantly walked into the kitchen. Dark eyes roamed critically over every available inch of Valentina's body before settling squarely on pale hands and long fingers. "Valentina, you're shaking."

Valentina stiffened at the soft timbre of Juliana's voice. She sat the glass down on the counter with a sigh. The hair on the back of her neck prickled with the proximity of Juliana's body and a warm hand was placed on her shoulder. "What's wrong?"

She slowly turned around and Juliana's hand graduated from her shoulder, up her neck, to cup her cheek as if everything about their current situation was natural.

Her eyes had since dried and carried nothing but anxiety over Valentina's strange behavior. Juliana lifted her hand to place her palm flat against Valentina's forehead. "Do you have a fever?" she asked innocently. "Are you sick?"

Valentina almost sobbed in frustration at Juliana's ignorance over the situation they were in. She grabbed Juliana's wrist and tugged her hand away. The momentum caused Juliana to step forward and let loose a quiet gasp when she brushed against Valentina.

And Valentina just stared at her in silence. Her gaze walked over Juliana's smooth skin, and her thumb rubbed back and forth over the inside of Juliana's wrist to remind herself how soft she was.

Nothing was permanent.

Not her fingers ghosting over Juliana's skin, not her gaze burning down Juliana's unblemished throat. Not even the space between them.

Her stomach coiled tightly, and it felt like an open wound expanding an ache low in belly as she leaned closer. Juliana looked helpless and nervous as she looked up at Valentina and licked her lips with hope in her eyes.

Valentina exhaled softly. "I'm going to kiss you, okay?"

"Okay," Juliana rushed out in an eager breath and Valentina would have laughed had this moment not been tinged with desperation and uncertainty.

She leaned forward and her lips trembled as they touched Juliana's still ones. They were warm and soft like Juliana herself, and the softest sound tickled Valentina's throat. 

Though Juliana's lips remained still and closed off from the pair trying to coax hers open and Valentina pulled back, bemused. "Have you ever kissed anyone before?" she felt the need to ask.

Juliana opened and closed her mouth with a few false starts because she had watched educational documentaries, but ultimately, "No, I have not."

Valentina smiled. "Okay. So, umm, that was a peck—what we just did."

"A peck?"

She nodded. "A quick meeting of lips. Like this." She leaned forward again and pressed her lips against Juliana's. She felt Juliana's entire body twitch into a smile and Valentina pulled away to see the grin on her face.

"Your lips are really soft, Valentina," Juliana murmured.

Valentina felt the back of her neck grow hot as she inclined her head as if to say thank you.

"What about the kisses I saw in the documentary?" Juliana ventured. "That's what I want."

"That's what you want, huh?"

She tried not to think about all the ways Juliana could die within the next few days or two years, and instead pushed off the counter to cup Juliana's face in her hands. "When you kiss someone—when you kiss me," Valentina corrected, "you have to move your lips."

Juliana sank right into Valentina's hands like putty. "How will I know how to move my lips?"

"You'll know," Valentina assured.

"Okay." Juliana grabbed at the sides of Valentina's coat around her waist and bunched the fabric in her hands in nervous energy as she rose. Her nose brushed along Valentina's and she shivered.

Valentina drew closer and pressed her lips against Juliana's once more. She held still for a moment, then dove in like a striking snake to fuse their lips more firmly together. She dotted kisses all along soft, plump lips until a quiet moan was heard. When Valentina realized it was Juliana who made the noise she groaned and used her thumb against Juliana's jaw to tug until Juliana's lips parted. She marveled at the fact that replicants could actually feel pleasure. Valentina remembered how Lupita had told her she created Juliana to be essentially limitless in her ability to be just like a human. She could feel pleasure, was created to feel it the same way humans were.

Slowly, Juliana responded, tilting her head to the right until her lips slid across Valentina's. Her grip on Valentina's coat slackened and inquisitive hands went searching inside until the flat of Valentina's stomach was against her palms. Her hands splayed out as far as they could to touch Valentina everywhere and when the tip of her middle finger grazed the underside of Valentina's breast Valentina heaved a quick, surprised breath and pulled away.

Her eyes grew twice their size as she took in the light flush high in Juliana's cheeks and her reddened lips. "Is something wrong?" Juliana breathed thickly.

Valentina just shook her head. Her fingers traced along Juliana's warm face. Her throat constricted with all of her caged thoughts plaguing her, but she ignored them and smiled softly. "Happy first kiss."

Juliana grinned. "First of many."

Valentina's smile turned shaky, and she just nodded.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Things get a bit steamy ;)

She felt like she was drowning. Drowning in her own lack of self-control, and that, more than anything, scared her. Valentina had amazing self-control, was used to showing restraint, especially when it came to things she wanted, like mouthing off at Lupita with a crude, undercutting joke that even Sergio hadn't thought of, slapping Eva across the face.

Juliana.

But not today. Today had been a long day of her taking what she wanted and though it was a thrill, it was also anxiety inducing. She wasn't used to this, giving into her thoughts and desires on a whim without a care of what would happen tomorrow. She was a thinker, planner. She didn't indulge in anything at all.

Today must have been opposite day, for all of her wants and desires were being acted upon.

She pushed Juliana into the wall beside her kitchen table and covered her mouth with her own. Juliana was a fast learner and the only sounds either of them uttered in the past three minutes were little, breathless moans and whimpers that accompanied the wet smack of their mouths.

Valentina's hands enclosed around Juliana's waist and the thought of her possessing something so powerful, destructive in her hands right now left her feeling lightheaded combined with the knowledge that Juliana could have killed her all this time, but wanted nothing more than to simply be with her in every meaning of that word.

It was like a tamer handling a lion, Valentina and Juliana.

Her loyalty was disabling to Valentina, dismantled every thought, notion, and stereotype Valentina had previously held toward replicants, and was creating something completely new. New ideals that had yet to solidify, gelatinous in their novelty.

Juliana's hands were warm and real, holding onto Valentina's hips for dear life as pale hands and tapered fingers molded themselves up the contours of Juliana's back. Vague lines could barely be made out under the wool of Juliana's coat and Valentina reached the lapels of the jacket, tugging harshly.

Juliana barely moved.

She got the message, though, and tore her lips away from Valentina's with a faint whimper to impatiently fight out of her coat. Her eyes were black, heavy lidded as they made quick assessment of Valentina's body and tore off the trench coat she was wearing with two hands.

Then Juliana was back on her, arms winding around Valentina's waist to tug her closer when Valentina had stepped back in momentum from Juliana jerking her coat off. Those arms locked around her iron-tight, and Valentina, feeling had, roughly ran her hand up the back of Juliana's neck, grabbed her by the scruff, and tugged until Juliana moaned and stared up at her openly, nothing to hide, not even her desire.

Valentina's jaw tightened at the sight of it as heat pooled below. She leaned down and kissed her fully, brushing her lips over Juliana's top lip before focusing on her bottom one.

It was going to take some getting used to, being with a replicant, being with someone who could easily kill her without much effort. Every time Juliana enclosed strong arms around her that belied the strength just under the surface, Valentina couldn't help but feel trapped, smothered—prey.

But then Juliana would kiss her so ardently like she was doing now, as if killing Valentina was the absolute last thing on her mind, not even on her mind at all.

Valentina sucked softly on her lower lip, running her tongue sideways along it, before gently sinking her teeth in. Juliana's hands flexed along her lower back to grip her shirt in a fist as she moaned and pulled back. Her face was flushed and she smiled brightly. "That felt really good," she husked in a low voice that Valentina had never heard before. 

"Can I bite you, too?"

Valentina hummed out an amused giggle, raising her eyebrows. "Softly."

Juliana nodded, and Valentina leaned in again. With little finesse, yet eagerness that more than made up for it, Juliana's teeth sunk into Valentina's bottom lip without pretense, and Valentina just smiled, oddly charmed.

Juliana pulled back to press a soft kiss to the corner of Valentina's mouth, then her cheek where she nuzzled with a contented hum.

Valentina's eyes slid closed with a trembling sigh crawling from her throat as reality began to settle in and chase away the tingles of arousal shooting down her spine with tingles of dread. She rubbed along Juliana's shoulders as if to declare a time out as she muttered, "We have a lot to talk about."

She felt Juliana's bottom lip jut out against her cheek, and almost smiled. Stepping back, Valentina took a deep breath and motioned for the living room. Juliana followed behind her and casted a worried glance at her suitcases, then at the back of Valentina's head before sitting beside her on the couch.

"Okay," Valentina sighed, clearing her throat to relieve its newly acquired hoarseness. "First off: why are you moving in?"

Juliana looked anxious almost immediately as her eyes widened. "I have nowhere else to go. And I'm closest to you out of everyone else in my life now, and I love you, so I thought I could move in and we could be together."

Her simplicity normally proved to be a balm from the harshness of the real world, but with Valentina's recent discharge and Eva's threat of coming after Juliana looming over her head, Juliana's desire to move in only incensed Valentina's apprehension.

She rubbed the palms of her hands down her thighs to give herself something to do, feeling restless as the conversation went on. "Why can't you live with Lupita?"

Juliana's eyes tightened the barest hint before she looked away. "My mother wishes to live with Michel."

Valentina's lips parted into an O of understanding as the conversation she had shared with Lupita several hours ago came back to mind and the dodgy, hesitant way Lupita was answering her questions. Valentina didn't entirely know the ins and outs of the Valdés family, but she knew a rift in family dynamic when she saw one. "You don't want to live with them?"

Juliana shrugged a shoulder, but shook her head, confirming Valentina's suspicions. "I don't think Michel likes me very much."

Valentina's brow furrowed. "Why would you think that?"

Juliana turned to look at her, looking for all the world like a lost girl. "He does not talk to me. He barely looks at me, and when he does he just looks regretful, and I don't know what I've done wrong."

"You haven't done anything wrong," Valentina told her, rather assertively, and she was surprised that she had spoken at all. She had grown up the picture perfect child and had unknowingly climbed atop a steep pedestal by the time she was sixteen. By the time she was eighteen, she had fallen so far down that she didn't even know her way back up and looks of regret from people who had put so much time and effort into her, her parents, were something she had seen once she had fallen down into pink hair, punk clothing, and girls. It took entering the blade runner academy to finally undo the damage previously done, though Valentina would always hold a small grudge against her parents.

Juliana scooted closer to lay her head on Valentina's shoulder. She looped her arm around Valentina's and hugged her close, then sighed. "Can I stay here, please?"

"I don't know if here is the best place for you to stay."

"But why—"

"Lucía and Eva—the ones who locked you up?" She felt Juliana nod in remembrance against her shoulder and continued. "They're going to be after you now because they think you killed Alacrán."

"I heard about his death," Juliana admitted, once again ignoring her own fate, and it drove Valentina mad. "It is a tragedy to the whole corporation to lose the one who started it all, and me, basically." When Valentina didn't respond, Juliana pulled back to stare at her profile. "You don't think I did it, do you?" she asked feebly.

"I told them you didn't, but it's routine to ask—what am I even talking about?" she scoffed. "I've been fired."

Juliana's jaw dropped, and her entire body shifted on the couch to completely face Valentina. "They fired you? Why?"

Valentina shrugged. "Doesn't matter."

Juliana ducked her head, picking at a loose strand on the hem of her her shirt. "It is because of me, isn't it?"

Valentina rubbed her lips together and leaned back against the couch.

"I really am sorry, Valentina," she continued. "I've made your life hell since the moment I stepped into it."

At that, Valentina smiled lopsidedly with little humor. "Ditto."

"You haven't," Juliana argued. Valentina lolled her head to the side to stare into Juliana's eyes, big and earnest as ever as she implored Valentina to understand. "You're the only person in my life who's been honest with me from the very beginning." She leaned forward and hesitated for a moment before lightly brushing her lips across Valentina's.

Valentina's eyes fluttered open to find Juliana staring at her adoringly with a crinkled nose. "What?"

"It tingles," Juliana whispered. "When I kiss you."

Valentina smiled. "What tingles?" She brought her hand up and brushed her thumb over Juliana's bottom lip. "Here?"

Juliana shook her head. She grabbed Valentina's hand and drew it down her torso until it reached her lower abdomen. "Here." Valentina swallowed when Juliana dragged their joined hands below the waistband of her pants. "And her—"

Valentina jerked her hand back as if she had been burned.

"What's wrong?" Juliana asked, bewildered.

Valentina licked her lips. "That's…a private area."

"Does that mean you can't touch it?"

"Not really?" Valentina sighed. She was the absolute last person who needed to be explaining sexual relationships.

Juliana's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "But in that…porn…film it seemed perfectly normal."

"It's normal to people who are sexually active with each other," Valentina explained.

"And we are not?"

"No."

"Will we ever be?" Juliana asked hopefully as she leaned closer.

Valentina kissed her in placation after she muttered, "Maybe." Never in a million years had she ever desired to have sex with a replicant, and this newfound attraction to Juliana of all people, things—whatever, left her a little confused as to how to proceed.

She rubbed at her bunched forehead as Juliana tilted her head to scrutinize her. "What?" Valentina asked.

"It's just that—how will you protect yourself now that you don't have a gun if I am not with you?"

Valentina mulled over the question for a moment, then smiled, enigmatic. "I'm not completely without."

 

She hadn't been to her parents' house in months, and nostalgia tickled the back of her mind as she parked along the street in front of it. She sighed and turned off the engine, grabbing Juliana's arm when Juliana went for door.

"Okay. Ground rules," Valentina began once Juliana turned to look at her. "My parents are very eccentric—ignore that. They're also very judgmental, which is why we are not under any circumstances going to bring up the fact that you're a replicant. And lastly, if my mother offers to show you old photos of me, just say no."

Juliana grinned deep dimples in her cheeks at the prospect of seeing baby pictures, but nodded nonetheless.

Valentina opened her car door. "Okay, let's go."

Juliana's gaze swept over the abundance of green grass curiously considering it was below freezing outside in the dead of winter as they walked up the concrete pathway to the Carvajal house.

Valentina knocked on the door then rocked back and gave Juliana a short look before her mother opened the door. Judy's eyebrows shot up her forehead in surprise as she smiled brightly. "Valentina! If I had known a phone call would have gotten you to visit I would called you weeks ago!" Judy looked from Valentina to Juliana then her smile turned curious. "Who's your friend?"

Juliana's eyes lit up at being called Valentina's friend and she extended her hand. "Juliana Valdés. It's very nice to meet you, Mrs. Carvajal."

Valentina waited patiently for them to exchange pleasantries before she stepped forward. "I actually can't stay long. Is dad here?"

Judy stepped aside as Valentina and Juliana walked into the house. "Downstairs in his little man cave. You know the drill."

Valentina kissed Judy on the cheek in thanks and walked away.

"Maybe one day you'll actually come to see me for a change!" Judy called after her. "Nice meeting you, Juliana!"

"It was lovely meeting you, as well!" Juliana called over her shoulder as she followed Valentina down the stairs.

They walked into a dimly lit room with a pool table directly to their right, a giant, flat screen TV across the room, and Valentina's father lying on the couch in front of it. Valentina cleared her throat so as to not startle him. His heart was becoming more sensitive with age and with one heart attack already under his belt, they all took necessary precautions to ensure he didn't have another one.

Diego grunted and leaned up to sit on the couch, casting a glance behind him. His lips parted into a thin smile as he regarded his youngest. "Is this a dream?"

Valentina rolled her eyes at his sarcasm. "Hi, dad."

Diego stood from the couch, pushing a hand into his pocket as he walked around it. "And you've brought a friend."

Juliana nodded. "Juliana Valdés. It's a pleasure to meet you, sir."

Diego looked affronted. "Sir? Just call me Diego, please. You make me feel like an old man."

He walked closer and Valentina wrapped her arms around his neck. "It's because you are, dad."

He patted her back gently then pulled back with a smile. "What can I do for my Vale?" His expression turned stern. "I hope you're not in trouble. You know the family doesn't need that kind of attention."

"No, no," Valentina cut in before he could embarrass her further in front of Juliana. She rocked back on her heels, suddenly shy under her father's scrutiny. "No, umm, actually I was wondering if I could have the gun?" she asked. "I'm twenty-one now, so…"

Recognition flickered in his eyes. "Ah, right. My trusty steel." He smiled proudly and motioned for Valentina to follow him to a locked door. Keys jingled in his pocket as he fished them out and unlocked the door. Valentina hesitated by the doorway with her hand on the door before walking into the room. She had never seen it before. It had white walls and was completely bare, save for hunting guns her father used when he was younger and had a better heart for it. This must have been where he kept them this whole time to ensure that she and her sister never got near them. Juliana closed in on her heel, and Valentina absentmindedly reached back to brush her hand on Juliana's hip in reassurance as she walked further inside.

Diego stood in front of a chest of drawers, opening the second drawer directly at his stomach level and taking out a small box. He placed it on the table beside the chest and opened it. "I bought this gun over twenty years ago, when your sister was just a baby," he said conversationally.

"What kind is it?" Valentina asked as she took a step closer, eager to see over his shoulder. Juliana remained quiet behind Valentina as she acquainted herself with this room, this house, Valentina's life.

"M1911," he called over his shoulder. He loaded the gun, then spun around and dropped the weight of it in Valentina's hand. "Don't lose that thing. I'm trying to keep it in the family."

Valentina twirled it around in her hand in appreciation. "I won't."

"Your sister's a hippie and doesn't want guns anywhere near her." Diego scoffed. "You're the only one I could give it to and know you'd keep it."

Valentina laughed. "Lana’s just different, that's all."

Diego made a rude noise of affirmation then smiled at the gun and at Valentina. "Want to go to the shooting range?"

Valentina smiled apologetically. "I can't, dad, sorry. I'm working on this case, and—"

He waved her off. "No need to explain. I understand. Go do your duty to serve this town and make it a safer place. You've always made me proud."

That was a lie, but Valentina would take it. She gave her father another hug, accepted another round for the gun, and walked upstairs with Juliana in tow.

Judy was in the kitchen and Valentina poked her head in with a wave. "I'm leaving now, mom."

Judy tore the apron off herself and walked over to Valentina. "I didn't even get to speak with your friend!"

Juliana frowned in sympathy. "We'll have to fix that. I promise to make Valentina bring me over again soon so that we can get better acquainted."

Valentina's brain screeched to a halt. That wasn't part of the plan, and her glare toward Juliana informed her just that.

Judy smiled pleasantly at Juliana. "Well, at any rate, it's good to see that Valentina actually has girlfriends; she hangs out with those boys so much, you know."

Valentina smirked, knowing what her mother meant, but amused nonetheless. "Okay, we really need to go now."

Juliana waved bye to Judy and followed Valentina out of the house. "Your parents seem nice," she felt the need to point out once they were out of ear shot.

Valentina sighed as they walked to the car. "Seem, yeah. Everyone seems nice."

"You're nice."

Valentina shot her a wry look, and Juliana giggled.

"You're…fair," she amended.

"Fair." Valentina mulled over the word. "I guess I can be fair."

 

It was a long day, but it was finally over, and Valentina leaned back against her headboard with a weary sigh. Who knew what tomorrow would bring? Her life was at stake if she made one false, fatal move while going toe to toe with the two remaining replicants, and Juliana's life was at stake if Lucía or Eva ever got their hands on her. Valentina couldn't help but think that Juliana living with her was unsafe for them both, but for the night she would let it slide.

The gun her father gave her was something he had been holding out to give her for her twenty-first birthday. It technically wasn't legal for Valentina to be toting a gun around while she had been underage, but the blade runner academy had always adhered to its own rules. She had been training since she graduated high school, learning to retire replicants before Juliana was even 'born'.

Now she was in cahoots with one with no possible plan and every day she spent with Juliana, she couldn't help but dread the inevitable day she'd die, whether by force or natural retirement.

There was nothing natural about their unique situation, however.

She heard the floorboards creak and looked up to find Juliana staring at her, dressed in a towel from her shower and a messy, dark bun atop her head. She had the most hilarious deer in headlights expression on her face that broke into a smile as she continued into the room. Valentina silently watched Juliana walk about, whether in mistrust, curiosity, or out of a simple desire to, she wasn't sure anymore.

Juliana's legs were long, efficient for running with flexing calves and fit thighs. Valentina's gaze leisurely walked up the towel covering Juliana's bare form to the back of her neck when the towel suddenly dropped to the floor with an audible thump.

Valentina was quick to turn away, feeling her face warm as she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. "Do you always have to do that?" she needed to ask.

"Do what?"

"Be…naked," Valentina explained when her eyes fluttered back open to stare at the wall before her.

Juliana's eyebrows quirked upward. "I forgot about your…weirdness about nudity."

Valentina rolled her eyes.

"Can I ask you a question, though?"

She saw Juliana move toward her for the corner of her eyes, and completely turned away. "What?"

Blue eyes dropped to the floor as Juliana's feet appeared directly in front of her, all body heat and promises. Valentina swallowed thickly, praying for self-control as she rubbed at her face. She felt Juliana place a hand on her shoulder and goose bumps broke out along her skin under her cotton night shirt.

"What is it about nudity that makes you uncomfortable?" Juliana asked.

Valentina's gaze rose on its own accord, separate from her own will until Juliana's smooth, slim thighs flooded her vision. Her eyebrow rose slowly, fingers twitching and she smoothed them down her own legs while she stared at Juliana's. "It just does."

Juliana's breathing grew labored as she asked, "Is it because you want to touch me? Because you can—if you want."

"I'm sure I can," Valentina murmured. Her gaze continued to rise and she knew this was the wrong thing to be doing right now. She remained silent as Juliana's folds came into view and Valentina quickly skated her gaze higher to Juliana's abdomen, soft yet firm just as her breasts were with dark nipples that always seemed to be standing at full attention.

Without conscious thought, Valentina seized Juliana by her waist and rose to her feet to crash their lips together, pushing Juliana into the wall behind her. Juliana's moan was instantaneous as she desperately cupped Valentina's face in her hands, clinging to her as she kissed her back. Valentina didn't know what was curiosity and what was her own arousal anymore as the palms of her hands smoothed along tan flesh. Her earlier question was sated at the feel of Juliana's warm skin under her fingertips, yielding pliantly to Valentina's inquisitive fingers. Valentina bit her like she knew Juliana liked and tugged on her lip until Juliana whined softly, squirming against the unforgiving wall.

She palmed Juliana's breast that dared protrude a nipple and it bit hotly into the palm of Valentina's hand. Juliana's head tipped back against the wall and Valentina attached her lips to her throat. She kissed a light trail down to her collarbone, then drew her tongue upward, pulling a throaty moan from Juliana as she tweaked her nipple.

"Does this actually feel good?" Valentina husked roughly against her ear. She bit down on the shell and Juliana whimpered. "Or are you just made to make those sounds."

Juliana gasped, affronted, but then Valentina's thumb and forefinger closed around her nipple and tugged and she arched off the wall. "It feels good," she groaned. "So good. It feels—I feel, Valentina. Can you?" she challenged.

Valentina smirked at her audacity, unsure as she was about the question. "What are you?"

Forcing down a thick swallow, Juliana's naked chest heaved into Valentina's hand with needless breaths. "Anything you want me to be," she whispered, eyes clenched shut. 

Her hips twitched when Valentina's dipped lower and a hot mouth enveloped your nipple. "I can be a combat model. I was made to fight," she continued breathlessly. "I can be an entertainment model, sing to you." Valentina wrapped both arms around her waist then bit the pebbled nipple in her mouth, and Juliana wheezed out a shuddery breath, fingers twitching at her side before she carefully slid them through Valentina's hair. "Or I can be a pleasure model. Whatever you want."

Valentina groaned around Juliana's breast at the last of her statement.

Her phone rang from across the bed on her nightstand and she hissed out an annoyed breath then pulled back to stare at Juliana sternly as if the interruption was her fault.

Juliana trembled against the wall, looking up at Valentina with remorse over the interruption before Valentina turned away. She slid across the bed, and roughly grabbed the phone and placed it against her ear. "What?"

"Geez, chill," Lucho answered. "That's no way to answer the phone."

Valentina casted a wistful glance to Juliana stomping across the room to grab a night shirt from her suitcase. "What do you want, Lucho?"

"I was just checking on you. Sergio told me you got, umm, discharged."

Her frustration melted away at the obvious concern in his voice and she sighed, running her fingers through her hair as reality once again set in. "My dishonorable discharge? Yep, happened today."

"Heard you slapped that Eva girl today, too. Nice." He chuckled, and Valentina shrugged.

"Honestly, I've been waiting weeks to do that."

Juliana settled in beside her on the bed with a huff, and Valentina hesitated briefly on the phone at her presence, but decided to ignore that situation for a while.

"What are you gonna do now?"

"I don't know," Valentina mumbled truthfully.

"Look, how about we all do lunch tomorrow? My treat?"

Incensed, Valentina gripped the phone harder. "I can pay for my own lunch, Lucho, and don't need my intern friend with the promising future to do it. I'm not poor."

"So not what I meant!" he defended. "I was just saying—it's nice to do that, for a friend, and—"

"Okay, okay, you're right," Valentina conceded quietly. "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. Just…get some rest, okay? I'll see you tomorrow."

Valentina nodded. "Good night."

"Who was that?" Juliana asked when she hung up the phone. "It was a man, and not Sergio. And you said…Lucho? Or something…"

Valentina turned to look at her strangely, and Juliana at least had the decency to look sheepish as she ducked her head. "I could hear him."

"His name is Lucho," Valentina explained slowly. "Am I going to have to send you into a different room when I'm on the phone?"

"I don't do it on purpose!" Juliana whined. "It just happens."

Valentina quirked an unimpressed eyebrow at her explanation. "Uh-huh." She leaned over on her side of the bed to place her phone on the nightstand next to her gun. Then she switched off her alarm clock that she would no longer be needing for a while.

Juliana watched Valentina climb under the blankets with a loud, disgruntled sigh.

Valentina looked over at Juliana where her arms were folded across her chest as she sat with her back rigid against the headboard. "Why are you pouting?"

Juliana's arms flopped down and smacked against her bare thighs in frustration. "I had…romantic ulterior motives," she admitted, biting her lip.

Valentina's lips twitched though her eyes held skepticism. "Did you now?"

Juliana nodded. "I was going to seduce you. Make love to you and ask you to move away with me."

"Move…away?"

"Up north."

"To Canada?"

Juliana scooted down along the bed and propped her head on her hand, elbow digging into the mattress as the fingers of her other hand toyed with beige bed sheets. "Just—we could be together then, you know? And not have to worry."

Valentina's eyes softened. She cupped the side of Juliana's face and exhaled quietly. "They would find us."

Juliana nodded as her head dropped in disappointment. "Of course they would."

She looked wholly defeated and Valentina just gathered her in her arms and lied back on the bed to stare up at the ceiling. "Just go to sleep for now."

Fingers gripped the edge of her shirt and held her close as Juliana laid her head on Valentina's chest.

It was sometime later when Valentina was still awake and staring at the unanswered questions she had burned into her ceiling that she broke her staring contest with it and asked Juliana one of them. "Juliana?"

Juliana's voice was faint. "Yes?"

Valentina pursed her lips. "If you would kill to have anything on this Earth, what would it be?"

Juliana was still for a moment, then she lifted her head from Valentina's chest to stare down at her intensely. Valentina's chest constricted under her stare as she felt herself sink into the mattress.

"More time," Juliana answered simply, though her voice was solemn. "To be with you."

 

 

Valentina pounded her fist into Sergio's door five times, then dropped back a step and waited for him to answer. Juliana stood just beside her, inquisitive as ever as she glanced around their surrounding area.

Initially, Valentina had been surprised at how easy it was to get Juliana from point A to point B without her being identified as a replicant. She had even taken Juliana into her family's home without incident, which was spectacular. She then had to remember how she herself had no clue Juliana was a replicant at first, that it took a subtle slip up that, had Valentina not been looking for it, probably would have gone undetected. It both amazed and unnerved her how Lupita could create something this close to the real thing.

She heard a grunt on the other side of the door, and Juliana giggled. "I do not think he's happy that we're here."

"He'll get over it."

The door swung open to show Sergio looking disgruntled in nothing but a pair of boxers. He rubbed at his eyes tiredly, voice thick as he simply said, "Val, what the fuck?"

Valentina pushed past him and Juliana followed inside. "Good morning, Sergio."

At the sound of Juliana's voice, he perked up. "Morning, babe."

Valentina shot him a warning look from across the room, but didn't comment. She sank into a couch behind her. "I wanted to catch you before you went to work."

Juliana lingered by Valentina, too interested in Sergio's living room to actually sit. She saw a stack of albums in the corner and made a beeline for them.

Sergio shuffled into a chair by the door and blinked the blurriness out of his eyes. "For what?"

"I think I know what they're trying to do." Valentina's voice held an eagerness to it that surprised Sergio as he sat back in his seat.

"Who?"

"The replicants."

"Who cares?"

Valentina scoffed. "Everyone who works at the corp because their lives are at stake."

From the corner of the room, Juliana swiftly turned around. "My mother?" She walked closer to Valentina in hesitation then sat down beside her. "Is she in danger?"

"I don't really know," Valentina admitted. "I'd say anyone who gets in their way is in danger at this point."

"Okay, enlighten me a little. What's going on here?" Sergio asked.

"I think they came back here to get more time."

His expression turned perplexed, skeptical. "More time?"

Valentina casted a sideways glance to Juliana and sighed. "More time to live."

"They're not alive," Sergio pointed out. He glanced at Juliana. "No offense."

Juliana straightened in her seat. "None taken. Though for the record I would like to argue the opposite. We are very much alive. At least, I am."

Valentina bit her lip in thought. "Think about it," she prompted after a moment. "They've completely humanized on us, expressing anger; Renata just looked resigned to her fate when I said I was gonna shoot her. I've never seen any replicant do that before. She looked relieved, Sergio."

He shook his head. "You're losing it, Val."

"Maybe," she admitted. "Maybe I am losing it. But they're carrying around momentous with them, like the photos we saw in that shoebox at the hotel."

Sergio's eyebrows knitted together as if he were actually considering it. "Those are just coincidences," he decided.

"They choked Michel out and killed Alacrán. Hell, I'll draw you a damn map," Valentina spat. "They've been switching locations and getting progressively closer to the corp. They started downtown; we found Renata at the mall; the others were in the hotel—ten blocks from the corp. And now they've infiltrated it and killed Alacrán."

He shifted uncomfortably, the chair creaking below him under the strain. "Or Juliana did."

Juliana stiffened in offense, sucking in an audible breath.

"No offense, I mean, you're hot and all, and obviously you've got Val under some spell."

"Excuse me?" Valentina gritted out.

"Look, all I'm saying is maybe you've gotten so close to Juliana to the point where you can't notice that she's probably the replicant that killed him."

"I did not murder him!" Juliana shouted, voice shaking. As unpredictable as she was when experiencing extreme emotions, she was probably going to put a hole through something soon, and Valentina placed a heavy hand on her shoulder.

Sergio trained his eyes on Valentina. "She's the only replicant who has access to a heavily secured building, Valentina. Come on."

"Valentina, you've got to believe me," Juliana pleaded. She grabbed Valentina's arm to get her attention and Valentina regarded the distressed look that had taken hold of Juliana's features. "I would never kill anyone, unless it was to protect you or my mother. Please say you believe me."

Valentina chewed on her lower lip. "There's got to be cameras in there." She glanced from Juliana to Sergio. "Tell me you can get us footage."

"So what? You think the others got past security? How?"

"I don't know!" Valentina exploded. "I don't even care how they got in there. All I know is that they killed Alacrán."

Sergio leaned back and folded his arms "Why?" he prompted, humoring her.

"Maybe he refused to give them more time to live."

"Or maybe he told them there was no way he could. Mr. Alacrán hired scientists and technicians to construct the replicants. He did not build them himself," Juliana explained. "And with how emotionally unstable the replicants have grown to be, him denying them—though there was no conceivable way he could even have helped them—probably angered them enough to kill him."

"They already went after Michel," Valentina mused after a moment. "Who's next?"

Juliana's teeth sunk into her lower lip in apprehension as she mulled over Valentina's question. "I think my mother would be," she whispered.

Valentina stood from her seat. "We should go," she told Juliana. "And figure this out while you—" She glanced at Sergio, "go to work and get that footage."

Sergio stood up and grabbed the handle of the door, twisting and opening to let them out. "I can't lie," he began once Valentina and Juliana were out in the hallway. "It's nice that you're the fuck up at work for a change instead of me."

"I've been fired," Valentina replied without missing a beat. "So you're still the fuck up at work."

He made a face, then closed the door and Juliana laughed.

"Do you think that my mother is going to die, Valentina?" Juliana prompted once they exited the elevator on Valentina's floor.

"Honestly?" Valentina looked over at her. "It's a possibility." Juliana ducked her head, and Valentina nudged her with her shoulder until she looked up. "Look, we'll go talk to your mom, okay? Maybe I can be a security guard for her or something, and—"

"But then you'll be in danger," Juliana pointed out. "I don't want that. You could die."

Valentina flashed a thin, enigmatic smile. "Someone once told me 'everybody dies.'"

Juliana faltered in reply. "T-that may be true, but there are ways to prolong the inevitable and acting as a body guard against replicants is not one of those ways. Furthermore…"

Valentina's expression grew grave as they walked closer to the door. There was a small note plastered on it, and she ripped it off as soon as she got to it and held it out in front of her.

‘I know who lives here.’

That was all the message said, and Valentina flipped it over to see if there was any writing on the back as dread shot down her spine like iced water.

"What's wrong?" Juliana asked when she noticed Valentina's sudden stillness. She leaned closer to read the note and gasped quietly. "I-is this about me?" Juliana whispered. "Or you?"

Valentina glanced up and all around them for any sign of someone watching them. Her voice was clipped, strained, as she coolly answered, "I've never gotten anything like this before."

"So it is because of me, then," Juliana muttered. Her eyes grew sharp, angry as she glanced over her shoulder for any intruders.

Valentina fumbled for her house key and stuck it through the keyhole. "We should go inside."

She closed and locked the deadbolt behind them, then peered out of the peephole to see if anyone was there.

Then she grabbed her gun from inside of her coat, and held it stiffly in her grasp as she moved about the house. "The real question is: who sent this?"

Juliana checked the bedroom as Valentina pushed aside the shower curtain in the bathroom to find the tub empty. They met back in the hallway, and Juliana asked, "The people at your job who want to kill me?"

Indignity shot straight through Valentina at the possibility of Lucía or Eva even thinking about harassing her at her home. "I don't know, but I'll sure as hell find out.


	11. DISCLAIMER

THIS TO CLARIFY THAT I HAVE NOT WRITTEN THIS STORY. I COPIED AND PASTED THE WHOLE STORY CALLED THE HEART IS A MACHINE FROM FABERRY FANDOM. “Like I have mentioned in every chapter.”

I WANTED TO DO THIS BECAUSE THAT FIC MEANT A LOT TO ME AND I LOVED IT SO MUCH I WANTED TO SHARE THAT WITH THE JULIANTINA FANDOM AND I SAW IT FIT. 

PLEASE DO NOT PRAISE ME FOR WRITING IT FOR I DID NOT. 

YOU SHOULD SHOW LOVE FOR THE ORIGINAL WRITER WHO YOULL FIND ON FANFICTION.NET UNDER THE NAME (K'sChoiceofAFI)

THANK YOU AND TRY TO ENJOY THE REST OF IT.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since everyone demanded an update here it goes. 
> 
> I apologize for leaving this hanging but I was getting really nasty messages 
> 
> To whoever asked for an update this is for you.

The door to the precinct slammed closed and everyone looked up to find Valentina storming through the building. She ignored their glares of betrayal and mistrust and stormed straight through to Lucía's office. Lucía was sitting behind her desk with the office phone attached to her ear. Valentina slammed the door shut, and Lucía grabbed the phone, pausing mid-sentence to gaze up at Valentina striding over to her desk.

The palms of Valentina's hands slammed loudly on Lucía's wooden desk and without a care of who was on the other line, she growled, "Don't you ever threaten me in my home again."

Lucía glanced down at the note Valentina hand slammed onto the table and hung up the phone without another word. With effort, she pried it from under Valentina's palm and read over the note with a bland expression. "Unimaginative," Lucía finally uttered.

Valentina stood up fully, fists clenched at her sides as she glowered down at Lucía with narrowed eyes. "You mean to tell me you didn't leave this note on my door?"

Lucía sighed and leaned back in her seat. "This is a tacky, reckless threat with no thought behind it. In fact, I should call security on you for even insinuating, with this filth on my desk, that I lack creativity."

She scrutinized Lucía calculatingly for a long moment of silence that stretched between them. Valentina had no room left to simply dismiss people who had turned into her enemies, feeling backed into a corner. Someone or something had left that note for either her or Juliana, or both, which unavoidably meant that the both of them were in danger, probably more so when together. She took a deep breath, feeling her chest flutter with her rapidly beating heart in what was most probably fear. "You didn't do it," she stated again.

Lucía's nose scrunched as if smelling the stench of Valentina's fear. She sneered. "How the mighty have fallen, hmm?"

It wasn't a foreign concept to Valentina.

She spun on her heels with her back to Lucía and walked out of her office. Her eyes were wide in her head, her breathing light and rapid as she cut a sharp right to Eva's office. Her door was open and Valentina barged right in.

Eva glanced up at her then sprang up in her seat with tense shoulders. "What the hell are you doing back here, Carvajal? If you think you can pull the same shit last time and get away with it, you aren't going to be as lucky without Sergio here to hold me back."

Valentina held up a hand to quiet Eva's rant. "I didn't come here for that," she admitted.

"Then why are you here?"

Frustration at her own carelessness grew inside of Valentina and she ran a hand through her hair as her mind quickly ran over the list of enemies she had potentially made since signing on to the case. Lucía, Eva, Lupita, and by association, Michel, and Shelby—though she doubted the latter two would pull something like this. Shelby seemed to care for Juliana and Lupita both, and Valentina doubted that Michel would go against Lupita’s love for Juliana to harm her no matter how much Juliana claimed he disliked her. But if the threat had been intended for Valentina because of her association with Juliana…

It could be anyone trying to get under her skin, kill her, whichever.

"Did you leave a note on my door?" Valentina flat out asked, exasperation edging around the corners of her monotone voice.

Eva's eyes narrowed in confusion, mouth puckering for a moment before she spat, "What?" past her lips.

Valentina smoothed out the crumpled paper in her hand and practically threw it at Eva. "Did. You. Leave. This. On. My. Door."

Eva took one look at the paper and scoffed, flipping it over to the blank side. "I'm so not the 'stalk you to your home and leave a message type.' I'm more of a 'bash a bitch upside her head until the gets the point' type." She stepped closer to Valentina until they were nose to nose and Valentina straightened to her full height until Eva had to slightly crane her neck to make eye contact. "And if you wants to get acquainted with that girl, stick around."

Blood boiled just beneath her skin, heat encasing her bones with white hot anger. It was more directed at the situation she and Juliana were in than Eva. Taking a deep breath, Valentina stepped back from the obvious invitation for confrontation and stalked out of the office.

"Not ready to tango now that your partner's not here?" Eva mocked.

Valentina ignored her. She casted a glance to Sergio's office to find the door closed and the light appearing to be off from what she could see of the little window on his office door.

He was probably already down at the corp digging for evidence.

There was nothing left for Valentina here. There was nothing left for her in this entire town, and she began to wonder why she was even still here, risking her life, dealing with people she didn't care for.

There was nothing on her apartment door when she arrived, but it left Valentina with little solace as she closed the door behind her, twisting the locks. "Juliana?" She was conscious of how near desperate her voice sounded, but couldn't stop it. "Juliana, are you here?"

Juliana poked her head out from the kitchen, then her entire body and quickly walked to Valentina, having picked up on the distress in her voice. "I'm here, Valentina. I'm fine. I was just tasting the interesting food in your refrigerator." She cupped Valentina's face in her hands and gave her a reassuring smile before her eyes raked down Valentina's body in assessment for any possible injuries. "Are you?"

Valentina heaved a sigh and nodded. "I'm fine." She hadn't expected to be as relieved as she was feeling at the knowledge that Juliana was safe, here in her apartment for another day.

Juliana's thumb rubbed back and forth across Valentina's cheek soothingly and blue eyes fluttered closed, brow furrowing. "Don't do that," Juliana scolded in a warm murmur.

"Do what?" Valentina grumbled in a rough, tired voice.

"Think so much."

Her eyelashes lifted from her cheeks and she stared down at the bottomless optimism shining in dark eyes. "How can you not think so much at a time like this?"

Juliana's teeth dug into her bottom lip for a moment. "I am…resigned to my fate. Death is natural, no?"

Valentina looked away. She drew her lips into her mouth as her eyes began to sting. She was such a fool.

Juliana ran her hands up and down Valentina's arms as she worriedly tried to meet her gaze. "You really aren't doing too well right now." Her hands fell down to Valentina's and gave them a gentle squeeze before she wrapped her arms around Valentina's waist. "Hey," she called softly. "Mírame?"

Breath hitching at the sound of Juliana's voice, Valentina just shook her head as her vision began to blur. There was so much she wasn't sure of anymore, and too many feelings to even articulate.

"Valentina," Juliana murmured sadly. She tugged Valentina closer and rested her head against her collarbone. Valentina's heartbeat was quick and erratic right against Juliana's ear and she turned her head to kiss Valentina square in the chest. "I know that you have feelings for me. I know that you feel, Valentina Carvajal," Juliana began carefully. When Valentina didn't respond either way, she continued. "And perhaps in my pursuit of your affections I have been selfish." She licked her lips and burrowed further into Valentina's chest. "I am sorry that caring for me hurts you as much as it does."

A lone tear slid down Valentina's cheek. Her hands found Juliana's lower back with fingers that trembled in hesitation. She wasn't as accustomed to Juliana's impermanence as she had originally thought. Or maybe it was her own impermanence that was weighing down heavily on her shoulders. As a reckless teenager with pink hair, mortality was a foreign concept. This case had aged her to near death, so maybe she would die right along with Juliana.

Faint humming rattling her chest dragged her from the crevices of her dark thoughts and arrested her attention as Juliana's lips vibrated against her chest with a lilting hum of something Valentina didn't recognize. Her chin rested against the side of Juliana's head and she opened her mouth, practically panting quick breaths to keep up with her racing heart. She inhaled deeply until her chest expanded against Juliana's head, then released it, her stomach concaving once more. All the while Juliana held her grounded to the middle of her living room.

She had thought she was the more grounded one, in tune with stability as the door to her apartment often swung open and closed with Juliana's big, whirlwind presence at will. She was the strong one every time Juliana cried. It was routine, and Valentina was used to routine, liked routine.

This was new. Her tearing up and unsure, and just fucking out of tune with her own feelings, and Juliana holding her together like Elmer's Glue.

It had been years since anyone had ever cared about her this way, and probably the only time in her life anyone's ever loved her so unconditionally as she was sure Juliana did. A fucking replicant of all things was capable of loving this way. If someone had told Valentina this—well, she would be eating her hat. Again.

She pulled back after a moment to wipe at her flushed face.

"Are you okay?" Juliana's voice was so faint Valentina thought it would break. She rolled her shoulders back and cupped Juliana's face in her hands.

Her wide eyed innocence of the world had yet to diminish. Perhaps that was why her love for Valentina was so unwavering, pure. Valentina leaned forward and kissed her softly, unwilling to be the one to tear away Juliana's virtue no matter how grave and life threatening the situation was.

Juliana's response was instant; she clasped her hands around Valentina's resting on her face and pushed her entire body into Valentina pleadingly. Her mouth was warm and soft when Valentina slipped her tongue inside, and she groaned and tugged Juliana closer. Warm puffs of air stroked against the edge of her mouth as Juliana tilted her head and rose up until her chest was pushing into Valentina's.

The heat emanating off of Juliana made Valentina reluctant to pull away. Her dress was doing nothing to conceal her stiff nipples and the warmth settled below her waist that intrigued Valentina to even think about. Juliana whimpered against her jaw when Valentina ended the kiss and, experimentally, dipped her tongue into the cleft in her chin. Valentina hummed a quiet moan and grazed her teeth along her own lip for self-control.

"Come on," she murmured. Her voice was thick and heavy and Juliana's eyelids lowered even further as she leaned up to pepper kisses along Valentina's jawline.

"Where are we going?"

"To see your mother."

Juliana sucked in a huge breath and in an instant, her cloudy eyes cleared with concern. It almost made Valentina laugh, how Juliana could swing from one emotion to the next so abruptly and without a hint of subtly.

But that was okay, because Juliana wasn't exactly subtle.

There were boxes outside of Lupita’s apartment door, presumably Michel’s, and Juliana narrowed her eyes at them as she led the way to the doorstep. She produced a key from the tiny satchel at her side and jiggled the door open. "Hello?" She poked her head inside the apartment and Valentina entered right behind her. "Ma, are you here?"

Lupita came rushing around the corner with Michel in tow. They both came to a screeching halt at the sight of Juliana and Valentina. Michel’s spine straightened as he dropped back a step, but Lupita continued forward, glancing warily at Valentina as she approached Juliana. "It's so good to see you, baby girl." She sounded like a weary mother who had been up all night with a cup of coffee, waiting for her daughter to come home.

Juliana was all too happy to fling her arms around Lupita in a warm hug. "Hi, Ma." She pulled back and smiled at her, and Valentina shifted uncomfortably behind them as she ran her eyes over Lupita’s apartment. It was swanky, a penthouse, and Valentina reasoned she could more than afford it. There was a staircase in the far corner just before the kitchen, and she briefly pondered what the rest of the place looked like before focusing on Lupita again.

Her expression had hardened since releasing Juliana from her grasp, and Valentina glanced at Juliana nervously tucking a lock of hair behind her ear before tentatively speaking to Michel. Valentina stepped forward. "Good morning."

Lupita’s lips pressed into a hard line. "I hope you've only come here to bring Juliana back."

"Where Juliana lives is her choice," Valentina responded coolly. She flicked an eyebrow to Michel, quiet and pensive in the corner. "Hello, Mr. Valdez."

He nodded, and Valentina sighed at how difficult this was all going to be. She wondered why she was even bothering with this at all.

"Look, I came to talk to you about the replicants," Valentina told them.

"What about them?" Lupita asked.

"Well, they're probably going to kill you."

Lupita’s face was stricken with surprise followed by fear almost immediately and Juliana bit her lip, looking between the two of them as Michel reached forward to grasp Lupita’s tricep.

Valentina glanced at Michel. "Oh, you, too," she assured, and his expression turned sour. When no one spoke, Valentina offered, "Now if you put away your hostility we can sit down and discuss the best possible course of action—"

"What course of action?" Lupita interrupted. "They strangled Michel into a coma and somehow slipped past security to kill Alacrán. If they want me dead then I'll likely die."

"Ma, I would never let you die," Juliana promised, and all three of them looked down at her. "Not while I'm alive."

Valentina's eyebrows pinched together in irritation. "Perhaps we can all discuss this instead of sentencing ourselves to death."

Lupita hesitated before muttering, "Sure," and leading them all into the living room. There were two couches directly across from each other, and Valentina took residence in the first one she passed, unsurprised when Juliana sat closely next to her.

Lupita and Michel took a seat on the opposite couch and Michel ran his hand through his hair before smoothing the palms of his hands down his thighs, fidgeting. Lupita gave him a small smile of encouragement, and Juliana's lips pursed as she scooted closer to Valentina.

"If I may begin?" Valentina spoke up to gather everyone's attention.

"Yes, I suppose we should." Lupita leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees, rubbing at her bunched forehead. "What do they want with me?"

"It's my understanding that you construct the replicants, give them their kill switch."

"I'm not the only Alacrán’s Corp employee who constructs replicants," Lupita explained.

"But you are the only employee who handles the kill switch," Valentina confirmed. "You mix the acids that someday end up corroding the replicants' mainframe after their four year span, correct?"

Juliana met Lupita’s eyes for a brief moment before her gaze dropped. Her lower lip trembled, and she bit down harshly on it before scooting even closer to Valentina.

Lupita watched their interaction closely as Valentina glanced down at Juliana for a long, tense moment that she didn't understand. "Yes," she finally answered, darting her gaze from Juliana to Valentina. "I handle their kill switches."

Valentina nodded. "I believe that the replicants have been looking for a way to elongate their life span, to extend the time for their kill switch to take effect or to do away with their kill switches all together." She looked over to Michel and he fidgeted uncomfortably. "I believe that's why they strangled you. They've been going after the wrong corporation employees. You're the right one," she told Lupita. "And if you aren't careful, you're going to get yourself killed."

"Wait a minute, wait a minute," Lupita rushed. "What do you mean they want a longer life span? They aren't—they're not made to wish for those things. Only Juliana is conscious enough of herself as an individual to warrant a desire to live."

"Your corporation is the one that keeps pushing the 'more human than human' slogan, Dr. Valdez," Valentina replied tightly. "According to you this is exactly how they should be."

"They're replicants!" She cried.

"They've evolved!" Valentina shot back. "All that growing and developing into humans you created the kill switch to ensure they didn't do? They've already done it. But here's the flip side: they're psycho killers because they can't properly emote yet. So they've been out there killing people because they want to live longer, but they don't have a fucking conscience to even feel guilty about it!"

"Can everyone take a deep breath?" Juliana asked the entire room, though her eyes were focused on Valentina. "You're all making me anxious."

Lupita leaned back in her seat with a heavy sigh. Michel sat ramod straight on his own couch cushion, not uttering a word as everyone spoke around him.

"I give them kill switches to ensure things like this don't happen," Lupita said quietly. "But you're right. If a longer life has really been what they've been killing everyone for, then…they've evolved. Into monsters."

"I'm not a monster, am I, Ma?" Juliana asked in the stretch of silence between them.

The corner of Lupita’s mouth lifted into a half smile. "You're mommy’s best creation."

Valentina expected Juliana to smile but instead a look of melancholy eclipsed Juliana's normally bright features.

"But for the life of me, I can't understand," Lupita began in a quiet, pensive voice. "How did they manage to make it past security?"

Michel tensed at her side and rubbed the palms of his hands together. He looked at all three of them then dropped his gaze to the floor. "With my employee pass to the building," he said quietly.

Lupita turned toward him, aghast, and Juliana slowly leaned forward in her seat.

"He was choking me," Michel explained.

"Who?" Valentina asked.

"Sebastian. He said he was going to kill me if I didn't help him. He-he kept asking about the kill switch and longevity, and I told him I didn't know anything about that and that I couldn't help him—I held out for as long as I could." Hiram looked around to the pinched expressions on everyone's faces, especially Juliana's and his posture grew wary of her presence. "I was about to pass out. I could barely speak, and I didn't want to die, so I told him. I told him about Schuester and that if he just…talked to Alacrán and Lupita then maybe they could work on extending their lifespans."

"You mentioned my mother’s name," Juliana stated coldly.

"I didn't know they would do this!" Michel shouted. "I didn't know they were going to kill Alacrán and if I had have known I never would have pointed them in your direction," he told Lupita. "I just didn't want to die. But they kept strangling me anyway."

"Clearly not enough," Juliana growled. Before anyone could react, she lunged across the floor to the other couch. Michel cried out in fear as Juliana crashed into him, hands wrapping tightly around his neck and on instinct, Lupita shot up from the couch as she felt it falling backward. Juliana and Michel spilled out of the couch and onto the hardwood floors as Juliana straddled michel’s waist and locked her arms at her elbows to forcefully hold him to the floor.

Shocked, Valentina's jaw dropped as she slowly stood from her seat.

"Do something!" Lupita shouted at her. She walked around the couch to where she and Michel were in a heap on the floor and hissed loudly down at Juliana. "You get off of him right now!"

If Juliana heard her, she didn't react as her gaze remained impassively on Michel.

Valentina swallowed down her shock over the situation and walked over to Lupita Her movements felt sluggish as she finally rounded the couch to find Juliana strangling the life out of Michel who was already reddening in the face.

"Why are you just standing there?" Lupita yelled, in near hysterics as she watched the person she loved murdering another person she loved.

"What do you expect me to do—shoot her?" Valentina shouted back, finally finding her voice, though it was thick with anxiety. Her gun suddenly felt heavy with awareness in the pocket of her coat. This was her job, was being the operative word. This was the point where she shot Juliana in the head, because Michel was human and Juliana wasn't. This was what segregated Juliana from the rest most of all, and Valentina did not want to be the one to make this call.

"Juliana," she choked out. "Juliana, you gotta let him go."

Juliana grunted in recognition of Valentina's statement though her fingers failed to unwrap themselves from around Hiram's neck. "This is his fault, Valentina."

Valentina rubbed at the back of her neck, feeling like now was the time to make a decision because Michel’s struggle against Juliana's hold on him was starting to turn sluggish. "I know," she agreed quietly. "But this isn't the way."

"Isn't this how humans solve their issues?" Juliana challenged through gritted teeth. "Murder." Her hands flexed around Michel’s throat and he gurgled out a cry, clawing at Juliana's arms, though she barely flinched.

Lupita’s frantic yelling of, "Do something!" was directly in her ear, putting Valentina even more on edge, and she squatted down to the floor, kneeling right beside a slowly dying Michel and Juliana.

She glanced down at Hiram for a moment before solely focusing on Juliana. "Occasionally," she admitted. "But I always thought you were above that. You're better than half the humans out there, and you know in your heart that this is wrong."

Valentina closely watched the lines of Juliana's body, how her elbows began to draw inward, and she imagined Juliana's grip slackening around Hiram's neck. "Were I to kill him right now, would you shoot me?" Juliana asked quietly, glancing at Valentina and showing the first signs of humanity in the past several seconds that felt like minutes as they ticked onward.

Valentina's jaw tightened, voice just as quiet as she admitted, "No."

No one said a word for a long moment. Not even Lupita, and Valentina was beginning to wonder if she had passed out. Slowly, one by one, Juliana began to peel her fingers away from Michel’s neck. As soon as air was available, he gulped a giant breath and began coughing, grasping at his neck with one hand while he used the other hand to scramble away from Juliana kneeling above him.

Juliana glanced down at her hands, turning them over as if they were some alien part of her. Valentina cautiously scooted closer, but froze when Juliana looked over at her, eyes wide and dark, looking like a trapped animal. Juliana flung herself at Valentina and released a shuddery breath against her neck before she burrowed her entire face there.

"I want her retired!" Michel croaked hoarsely. Lupita ran to his side, shushing him. "No!"

Juliana shook in Valentina's arms with silent sobs.

"You! Detective!"

Valentina shot him a cold look.

He continued, undeterred. "It's your job to—"

"I'm no longer a blade runner," Valentina cut in as she loosely wrapped her arms around Juliana's trembling frame. "And even if I was, I wouldn't retire her."

"What do I have to do?" Lupita asked, voice tinged with desperation as he tried to balance calming Hiram down and speaking with Valentina. "What do I have to do to make this all go away?"

Valentina sighed as her arms tightened around Juliana.

"I'm a murderer."

"You didn't murder anyone."

"But I almost did."

"You didn't—you made a conscious decision."

"Only because you were there to tell me to stop."

"Sometimes people need others there to stop them from making a bad decision."

Valentina stood propped against the doorframe to the bathroom as Juliana leaned over the sink with her head buried in it for a reason Valentina had yet to understand. Her voice was muffled and strained with weariness and guilt. They had been at this for an hour, and though Valentina's feet were starting to get cold, balanced on the hardwood floors of her hallway and the tiled floors of the bathroom, she maintained her spot right by the door.

"Have you ever needed anyone there?"

"No one's ever been there," Valentina replied with a rueful chuckle. "Or at least that's what I've always told myself right before making a stupid decision."

"Weren't Sergio and…Lucho there?"

"They had their moments," she admitted. "In high school everyone's selfish, you know? Everyone's got their own thing going on and we could never pull our heads out of our own asses long enough to see that others were hurting just like us. We're a lot better friends to each other now than we were back then."

Juliana blindly outstretched her arm in search for Valentina, and Valentina clucked her tongue in slight amusement before stepping forward and clasping Juliana's hand. "You have me now," Juliana murmured.

"I would if you would take your head out from under the faucet."

Her thumb dragged almost absentmindedly along the back of Juliana's hand as Juliana finally stood up straight, lolling her head to the side to face Valentina. She took a step closer. "If you could just hold me?"

Valentina nodded without a sound and not more than a second later she was cradling Juliana's face against her neck as strong arms wrapped tightly around her waist.

"That can't happen again," Valentina told her after a moment. "You've got to learn to control your actions when you're feeling distressed or angry, okay?"

Times like this reminded her that Juliana was essentially just a baby, two years old and still learning how to reel in her emotions and contain them instead of lashing out with tantrums that proved lethal. Valentina was hardly the one to talk about self-control considering she had been doing a poor job in exercising it the last few days, but the last thing she needed right now was Lucía and Eva breathing down her neck because Juliana murdered someone. The only reason they hadn't killed Juliana off by now was because they had two other replicants that were actually killing people to tend to.

"Okay," Juliana murmured. "I'm sorry. Okay? I'm really sorry."

"That was…kind of scary," Valentina admitted with a small laugh in an attempt to downplay how nervous the situation they were in earlier made her. "I had never seen you like that before."

Juliana pulled back immediately to stare up at Valentina with large, dark eyes. "That didn't—you aren't afraid of me, are you?"

Valentina raised an eyebrow. "Do I have a reason to be? Besides the obvious."

"No," was Juliana's urgent reply as she shook her head. "I would never…"

She brought a hand up to smooth down Juliana's already perfect hair. "Okay."

"I wouldn't ever want you to be afraid of me."

"Sometimes I forget that you're a replicant." Valentina bit her lip. "I mean, I know that you are, theoretically, but I don't get to see that side of you often, so it's easy to forget that this docile little thing clinging to me," she smiled at the sight of Juliana's nose crinkling at the description, "is in fact very strong and very deadly."

"Sorry," Juliana mumbled.

"Don't be sorry for what you are." Sometimes talking to Juliana made Valentina feel like she was talking to a sixteen, seventeen, hell, eighteen year old version of herself. "That's—you can't change that. So just accept it."

Juliana fell against her again in a long hug with tightening arms and hands splayed against her back that surprisingly didn't scare Valentina. She had just seen Juliana almost murder Michel and for some reason instead of cowering in fear and kicking Juliana out, the only thing could think to do in this moment was offer whatever comfort to Juliana she could because Juliana was obviously drowning in her own regret right now.

"I didn't mean to do that," Juliana whispered against Valentina. "I just—it was his fault that my mother’s in danger and that you'll subsequently be in danger once you visit his office to act like bait, and I wanted-I wanted Michel to suffer as badly as I do."

"He's suffered enough, though," Valentina argued gently. "He was in a coma and almost lost his life. He was just a scared man, trying to extend his own life by offering up what little information he could."

"At the expense of my mother’s life and Mr. Alacrán."

"I don't think he knew," she admitted. "I believe him when he said he just sent the replicants to discuss with Alacrán the possibility of a longer life, not kill him."

"Well, he's dead. And now you're putting yourself in harm's way by acting as a decoy for my mother."

The skin around Valentina's eyes crinkled as she smiled in amusement. "Valdez, I've been retiring replicants longer than you've been alive; I think I can handle myself."

Juliana's face bunched in annoyance. "Oh, that argument is going to get so old very quickly."

They had been ripping and running around town all day and it was only six in the evening. It was a rare day off for Lucho, and Valentina almost felt bad for intruding upon it, but she knocked on his apartment door anyway.

Juliana nervously stood beside Valentina for what awaited them on the other side, and Valentina casted her a sideways glance. "He's harmless, and looks like a golden retriever."

Juliana grinned at the description but it quickly melted away when she heard someone toggling with the door handle on the other side. The door opened to produce this Lucho person she had been hearing about and he looked at the both of them, then smiled at Valentina, and Juliana's eyes widened at the sight of it. Golden retriever indeed.

Lucho stepped forward and wrapped Valentina in a bear hug. "It's good to see you—alive."

Valentina tilted her head in some form of agreement as she hugged him back. "It's good to be seen alive."

They pulled back to find Juliana scrutinizing Lucho with narrowed eyes. Valentina nudged her to get her attention and looked over at Lucho. "This is Juliana," her voice was grave with meaning as she regarded him.

"O…kay," Lucho replied stiltedly as he gazed down at the powerhouse before him. He had never directly interacted with a replicant before and didn't really know how to proceed. "I—do I hug it, or—"

"She," Valentina cut in.

"Hello, Lucho," Juliana spoke with an indulgent smile. "Juliana. Very nice to meet you."

Her tone was deceptive, devoid of warmth, and Valentina curiously eyed her for a moment. "Can we come inside?" Valentina asked, still looking at the faux-smile on Juliana's face.

Lucho swallowed as he glanced at Juliana. "Uh, sure." He stepped back and held the door as Valentina entered followed by Juliana. His apartment was quaint with barely any decoration because he was determined to be living somewhere better in about a year after he made more money.

Valentina grabbed a couch nearby and Juliana sat directly beside her, mashing their shoulders together and placing a hand on Valentina's knee. Valentina's face was an interesting mix of amusement and embarrassment.

"Can I…get you guys anything?" Lucho asked, eyes focusing on their point of contact with a frown.

"Water, please," Valentina asked. Once Lucho was out of earshot in the kitchen, she turned to Juliana. "Okay, what are you doing?"

Juliana looked affronted, jaw dropping. "What do you mean?"

Valentina narrowed her eyes, trying to assess whether Juliana was genuinely confused or just pretending. Deciding to drop it, for now, she accepted the offered cup of water once Lucho returned and used it to gulp down an amused smile. Then she cleared her throat and placed it on the table. "Look, Lucho, I'm sorry I had to cancel on lunch."

Like a puppy hearing a particular noise, Juliana perked up at the mention of lunch and looked between the two of them.

Lucho waved it off. "I've just been sleeping all day anyway. Though I would have loved to take you out," he admitted.

Juliana's eyes narrowed as her grip around Valentina's knee tightened.

Valentina nearly rolled her eyes at having her suspicions confirmed. For whatever reason, Juliana was feeling decidedly territorial. Either she had somehow picked up on Lucho's feelings for Valentina, or she was just feeling suspicious of meeting someone new who was so close to Valentina. Why Juliana didn't act that way with Sergio was beyond Valentina, but it was possible that back then Juliana had yet to develop romantic feelings for her.

"Yeah, rain check," Valentina replied slowly.

Silence enveloped the room, and Lucho shifted uncomfortably from the armchair he was sitting on. He clasped his hands together and sat forward in his seat. "So. What have you guys been up to?"

Valentina grabbed Juliana's hand from its death grip on her knee and loosely held it. "I actually have a favor to ask."

Lucho's gaze curiously dropped to their point of contact and Juliana smirked. "What favor?"

"I was wondering if Juliana could stay here."

Juliana and Lucho's faces fell completely at Valentina's statement. Dark eyebrows furrowed together in a display of her dislike of the idea.

"I'm not too sure about this," Lucho spoke up. His lips parted as he mulled over the request. "I mean, I've never even dealt with a replicant before. What if she kills me?"

"Your ignorance is offensive," Juliana croaked out softly with regret of her earlier actions toward Michel.

"She won't kill you," Valentina spat. "Stop being an idiot."

"I'm not!" he shot back. "All I keep hearing about is how these skin-jobs keep murdering everyone and I don't want one in my home if she's gonna kill me!"

"She won't!"

"How do you know?"

Valentina puffed out a quick breath and gritted her teeth to keep this from turning into a screaming match. "She's never murdered anyone, Lucho. Chill out."

"Why do I have to stay here?" Juliana asked sullenly.

"Because you'll be a sitting duck at my apartment while I'm at Alacrán’s," Valentina told her, remembering how on edge she had felt at the possibility of Juliana not being in her apartment while she was trying to unlock the door earlier today. "I don't want to come home…and you not be there because someone got to you," she admitted after a moment.

Juliana softened at the quiet declaration. "Can't I stay with Sergio instead?"

"Lucía and Eva know how close Sergio and I are, and they know where he lives."

Lucho sighed and sat back in his seat in resignation. "How long is she gonna be here?"

"Just for a few days," Valentina replied, though she honestly had no idea. Her plan didn't stretch far beyond hoping the replicants wandered into Lupita’s office to threaten her into extending their lives. Then she could pluck the both of them off with minimal issue. Where things went from there, she was unsure of.

"Will I see you, though?" Juliana asked desperately, and Valentina smiled.

"I'll visit," she assured. "Promise."

"Every day."

She nodded. "Every day."

"And call me to let me know you're safe."

Valentina's expression turned sheepish as she looked away to Lucho listening intently to their conversation, then back at Juliana again. "I don't have your number."

She and Juliana quickly exchanged contacts, and to keep the goodbye from being long and drawn up, Valentina abruptly stood up and headed for the door.

"Wait!" Juliana called after her.

As soon as Valentina spun around, Juliana was pressed tightly against her and leaned up to fuse their lips together. Valentina smiled at the drama of it all. Juliana pulled back, grabbing at the lapels of Valentina's coat. "If you get injured I will be very upset with you," Juliana murmured sternly.

Valentina's smile turned roguish. "I'm sure you will." She threw one more wave at Juliana and Lucho followed her out of the apartment.

He closed the door behind him and folded his arms across his chest.

"What?" Valentina sighed, already knowing that look.

He shook his head. "You're…so predictable."

"What are you talking about?"

"Falling for someone who's going to die? Really, Valentina? That just screams angst and you jumped in with both feet."

"Is there a point in all of this?"

"My point is, why the hell do you always have to hurt yourself?" Lucho hissed. "I'm sitting here, on the precipice of success, but instead you shack up with a replicant that's going to die in two years if someone doesn't kill her in two days first."

Valentina opened her mouth to respond, but came up empty. She never claimed to be perfect. She never claimed to be good at choosing significant others. She looked away from Lucho and clucked her tongue in annoyance, folding her arms across her chest.

"Are you happy?" Lucho asked.

She hated that question. What was happiness, absolute happiness between imperfect people who could only aspire to create imperfect love? Was happiness waking up beside someone she cared deeply for her every day? Was happiness the fierce, impassioned way Juliana spoke of loving and protecting her? Was happiness what Valentina was currently struggling to hold on to by housing Juliana in Lucho's house because the thought of coming home one day to find Juliana retired would make her unhappy?

"Val," Lucho murmured when he took a step closer to find tears brimming in her eyes.

"I just want her to live longer," Valentina whispered hoarsely. "Then I'd be happy."

He gently reached out for her arm and, when she didn't resist, dragged her into a warm hug. "I know that I let my feelings for you get in the way a lot," he sighed heavily. "But more than anything I want you to be happy. I'm trying not to be selfish here."

Selfishness, it was such a human trait, to want without any regard to another's feelings. Valentina bit her lip to stifle a small smile as she remembered how Juliana had apologized for her own selfishness, how very human she kept proving herself to be.

If only she lacked the one trait that above all else made her a replicant, her kill switch.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the love this story got!! 
> 
> It’s one of my favorite fics ever and it’s all thanks to the amazing writer K'sChoiceofAFI you’ll find them and the original story on fanfiction.net
> 
> ENJOY!

Valentina slammed Lupita’s ID to the corporation down on the receptionist's desk with a loud thwack. Shelby, typing away at her computer, never broke stride as she glanced away to peer over her glasses down at the laminated plastic with dull, unimpressed eyes. Her jaw locked as she turned back to her computer. "May I help you, detective Carvajal?"

Valentina didn't bother telling Shelby she had been fired. That little tidbit of information would likely get her kicked out anyway. "I obtained this from Lupita with her expressed permission to occupy her office for the night."

"Yes, I know," Shelby replied. Then with reluctance, admitted, "she called me."

Pink lips curled smugly. "Good." She felt for the weight of her gun holstered to her hip for easy access instead of resting in her coat pocket just below her breast. "Not that I like you, or anything," Valentina began and Shelby scoffed, "but I feel it necessary to warn you that there's a chance the replicants may show up tonight."

The rapid, monotonous pitter patter of typing stopped. Shelby inhaled a quick breath and looked up at Valentina. "And what makes you think they'd come back?"

Valentina leaned down and braced her hands on the desk. "I'd bet a hundred thousand dollars that eventually they'll come back."

Shelby smirked. "You don't have a hundred thousand dollars," she needled.

"It pays to risk your life to kill something three times your strength," Valentina replied dryly. "Anyway, I'm not here to feed you my account statement. Stay, leave, I don't really care. But you've been warned."

Shelby hesitated, then adopted a bland expression. "I think I'll take my chances."

Valentina's eyes narrowed at her as she snatched up Lupita’s ID. "What a bitch," she muttered to herself and walked away. The entire building was mostly deserted and quiet in the late evening. Half the lights were off in the hallways to create shadows that Valentina eyeballed hard on her way to the elevator. Her phone buzzed in her pocket as the doors shut and she glanced up at the ascending numbers. "Hello?"

"She didn't do it."

Valentina rolled her eyes at Sergio on the other line. "I know she didn't. She made sure to strangle the person who did."

He made an excited little noise that made her embarrassed for him, and asked, "Did she really? That's so cool, and hot."

The elevator opened to deposit her on the appropriate floor and Valentina glanced both ways before walking out of it. "It's not cool, Sergio. She nearly took a man's life."

"Yeah, but whose?"

"Michel's."

"Oh, shit," he whispered. "That's…gotta make for an awkward family reunion."

She smiled a little in quiet thanks for Sergio's uncanny ability to simplify things to their most basic, and sometimes unimportant, points. It often kept her from being overwhelmed. "Tell me about it."

She walked up to Lupita’s office door to find the lock on it to be barcode sensitive. Valentina frowned and looked down at the ID card in her hand, turning it over to reveal an obscure barcode on the back of it. She held it up to the door, then heard an audible click a few seconds later. "This is really state of the art," she muttered to herself.

"So tell me what happened," Sergio asked eagerly.

Her fingers searched along the wall closest to her for a light switch and flicked it upward. "You first."

"The other two replicants totally double teamed Alacrán."

Valentina winced in sympathy for the painful way Alacrán must have died. She had harbored a grudge against him for creating replicants in the first place, but didn't believe he deserved to die from it.

"And that whole mushing eyeballs thing that hotel bellboy was talking about? I watched it happen on tape. Freaky stuff."

Valentina cleared her throat and grabbed the seat behind Lupita’s desk to sit down.

"And Alacrán just started screaming—"

"I got it," Valentina cut in. "Thanks." She distracted herself from Sergio's graphic storytelling by roving her eyes over the mounds of unorganized papers on Lupita’s desk. They were report files on off-Earth replicants whose kill switches had already taken effect. Essentially, they were death certificates, strewn about his desk.

Valentina thought of Juliana and instantly became sick.

She scooted back in the chair and glanced out of the doorway down the long, dimly lit hallway.

"Tell me now." Sergio's voice was back to eager and knocked off the eerie chill that had started to slither down Valentina's spine.

"Turns out the other replicants got into the building using Michel's ID," Valentina informed him. "He gave it to them and pointed a finger at Alacrán as a last attempt to save his own life. But he also mentioned Lupita, which pissed Juliana off. A lot."

"And she just went for him?"

She nodded, though she knew Sergio couldn't see. "She lunged clear across the room at him with enough force to knock the couch over he was sitting on."

"This is so wickedly hot," Sergio breathed. "Then what?"

Valentina shrugged and swallowed. "Then she just choked him. He could have died." She leaned her head back until she was staring at the tiled ceiling and florescent lights above her. "She felt so guilty, Sergio."

"Guilty?" He snorted. "That's…new."

"Tell me about it," was her deadpan reply.

She twisted her chair around to sit parallel to Lupita’s desk and lolled her head to the left to check the doorway. Her fingers toyed with handle of one of the drawers to his desk and curiosity furrowed her brow before she pulled it open.

"What are you gonna do for the rest of the night?"

The desk was full of files, manila envelopes, and Valentina twisted the chair to face them, leaning forward in her seat. "Oh, you know, camp out at Alacrán’s Corp and hope the replicants show up. The usual."

"Dude, you're here?" Sergio asked excitedly. "So am I!"

Valentina reared back and grabbed the phone from where it was resting in the crook of her neck. "Really? Where?"

"At the crime scene. I got a copy of the video of the murder and I've been going over it. You should come up."

She glanced back down at the stack of files in the drawer and one caught her eye. It was labeled. Guille, 16940. "Yeah, in a minute." Curious, Valentina grabbed the file and placed it on the desk, flipping it open. It was Guille’s file. She opened it and flipped through it quickly to confirm that there were no pictures, just as Lucía had said weeks ago. Feeling an iota of comfort at the fact that at least the corporation didn't lie about that, Valentina flipped through his file. There was a 'birth' certificate, followed by files dated every three months charting how he functioned. And lastly, there was 'death' certificate, dated a few days after Valentina had retried him. His kill switch date was listed just below that.

Unease gripped her as she closed the file. She pulled back the remaining files in the drawer to place Guille’s back in when a file labeled, Valdez, J, 01562 caught her attention. Valentina's blood ran cold at the sight of it. The pad of her thumb brushed it as she struggled with her brain to play catch up. Her fingers felt weak as noodles as they closed in around the file and hoisted it up to place on the desk. It was twice as big as the other files, and Valentina opened it to find a picture of Juliana inside. She had on a navy blue sweater with a star directly in the center of it, beaming proudly at the camera with a wide smile. Valentina felt her own lips twitch at the sight of it before she flipped the picture over. It was dated July 26, 2019, just a few months before Valentina met her. She looked over the stack of papers in the file and flipped through them. They were all hand written, not typed up like Guille’s file had been. The first entry was September 2017.

We're going to do it. I've convinced Michel to do this with me. We're actually going to create a replicant of our own, for ourselves, our daughter. I can't wait to start this journey with him.

Despite her hang-ups about Lupita, Valentina smiled what seemed to be genuine enthusiasm for a future Juliana that oozed off of the page at her. Her eyes dropped to the last line of the note and she frowned.

Rest in peace, dearest Cassie. We will never forget you.

Goose bumps rose along her skin, unease gripping her and an uncomfortable knot forming in her stomach as she wondered just who the hell Cassie was. She flipped the page to find another hand written note written just a few weeks later in early October.

Now that the plans are finalizing and the replicant we're building together is finally taking shape as an actual person, Michel has grown reluctant. I must admit he never wanted her to begin with. Nothing can replace our Cassandra, and this isn't my intent. I miss my little girl deeply. I've grown to miss the way she always played her music too loudly until Michel and I were forced to soundproof her walls. I miss her bright, shining eyes, and nothing will ever replace her in my heart. My only wish is to be a father again, not to replace my daughter. I only hope Michel can understand.

She knew something like this was coming, but an audible gasp escaped Valentina anyway. Lupita and Michel had a daughter together, a young girl named Cassandra who had apparently died at a very young age. Valentina leaned heavily back in her seat. All of this suddenly explained why Juliana always felt Michel didn't like her. It was because he truthfully didn't; he had had a child who died and saw Juliana as someone Lupita was using to replace their daughter with.

But none of this was Juliana's fault and Valentina felt her chest tighten at the thought of how confused Juliana must have been feeling in all of this.

She leafed through the file to another page dated just a week later.

Today Michel constructed the replicant's eyes. They're this beautiful, warm brown, hauntingly similar to Cassie's, and my only hope is that the replicant will be able to emote with them as well as our daughter could. Just one look into her eyes sometimes and I found myself willing to allow her to stay out all night with her friends instead of implementing the midnight curfew we had for her. Perhaps if I hadn't been so lenient, she wouldn't have died in that car accident, however.

I miss my daughter, but I'm finding building this replicant to be a wonderful distraction. I've already constructed her face. She hardly looks like Cassie. I don't think Michel would have been able to suffer through that. She interestingly enough looks a little like Shelby Corcoran. We all had a good laugh about that.

Valentina swallowed down a lump of emotion that had settled in her throat. Lupita’s daughter had died in a car accident. Valentina herself had survived one. This all felt too surreal, like a story, and Valentina found herself quickly flipping to the next page to learn more.

I want to try something. It's very experimental and not at all guaranteed to work, but I have to try. The problem with the replicants, the reason they can easily be detected by blade runners and other operatives who have been trained to spot them is because the replicants cannot properly convey emotions. We tried to give them an emote function once and it backfired. Greatly, I'm afraid. But perhaps the reason why they couldn't properly emote was because they had no past experience to draw on. Babies cannot properly emote. They're laughing one moment and crying the next, throwing violent temper tantrums. They cannot properly conduct themselves as humans yet because they have no prior experience to draw on. In essence, they themselves are a novelty.

But what if I can create a past experience for this replicant, our daughter. Give her memories, recreate Cassie's memories up until her death, and implant them in this replicant, giving her a cushion of sorts, a schematic of how to properly convey emotions, and react to another's emotions.

This is all mere speculation, of course. But perhaps this will work. Perhaps I can create the perfect human.

This was something she had learned just after she had nearly mistakenly passed Juliana on the EPR test. Juliana had implanted memories, Cassie's ghost floating about her mainframe that in one candid moment she expressed how much she hated.

Lupita had created something pretty spectacular, Valentina had to admit, but Juliana was still prone to violent tantrums on occasion when her emotions got the better of her.

Valentina sighed and flipped to the next page.

Today on December 18, 2017, I've created the most profound being, alongside my partner, Michel. Her name is Juliana Valdez. She is unlike all of my past creations—smart, cautious, sensitive, vulnerable, talented, prone to bouts of irrationality. She literally is human. My little creation. My Juliana.

The tone of this note above all else sounded reverent, amazed. Valentina couldn't discern if Lupita was amazed by Juliana, or by her own ability to create her, however. But she spoke of her in high regard, like a mother would her child.

She exhaled a harsh breath and flipped to the next page. Her stomach churned at what she read.

Michel's moved out. The house is a lot lonelier without him, but thankfully I have Juliana, though she's the reason he's gone. She has a kill switch, which Michel and I argued over. He doesn't want to live in this house and grow attached to her only for her to die in four years.

The more I think about it the more I agree.

Eager to learn more about Juliana's kill switch, Valentina flipped to the next page and read through it quickly.

Today, December 18, 2018, I decided to remove the kill switch from Juliana. She has exhibited displays of being a functional human being who thirsts for knowledge without allowing what she already knows to fester evil and contempt within her. I may be biased, but she is an exceptional young girl, special. She deserves the life Michel and I have given her, and above all else, I hope this will get my Michel back.

I have no way of knowing how or when Juliana will die. It could be 30, 40, 50 years from now, I have no way of knowing, much like I have no way of knowing when my own death will occur. She truly is human from this point on.

Valentina's hands shook as her heart lurched in her throat, tears springing to her eyes unbidden.

Juliana was going to live.

Without a kill switch she had the chance at a longer life span beyond four years, beyond two more years, beyond anything Valentina had ever expected. A tear splashed onto the notebook paper the notes were written on, smearing the blue lines, crinkling the paper and Valentina quickly wiped it away. Feeling weak and foolish, and just a bit giddy, Valentina gurgled out a quiet laugh and flipped to the next page.

It's days like this that make me miss Cassie. I know Michel must blame me, though he says nothing. Had I have been stern enough with her she would have been home safe by midnight, and not cruising around at two in the morning illegally tipsy with her drunk friend behind the wheel. Perhaps then they wouldn't have t-boned that car.

Valentina's heart stopped at the last of that written statement. T-boned that car—it had to be coincidental. It had to be. There were hundreds of car wrecks in Lima per year; there was no way—

She hurriedly scooted the chair closer to Lupita’s computer on the edge of his desk and leaned down to press the power button on the system unit. Her breathing grew labored as her heart rate sped up under the anxiety and potential anger she could feel coursing through her veins, making her fingers clumsy as they slid around the keyboard in effort to type in Lupita’s password. She clicked the internet icon and typed in the website she had saved an article of her crash on. After waking up from her coma weeks later, Valentina could hardly find any news that covered her accident. Judy and Russell offered up no newspaper articles and Valentina could only find one online report covering it, the very report she was reading over now.

Teenager, Valentina Carvajal, was involved in a brutal car crash just off Hopkins road around 1:50 am. The driver of the other vehicle involved in the accident, a sixteen year old male named Timothy Andrews, is believed to have been intoxicated while driving when he ran a red stop sign and t-boned Carvajal's car, a red sedan.

Timothy. Valentina remembered that name, that boy as being the underage, drunken boy who crashed into her car that night. She read on with narrowed eyes that grew wide in shock and horror.

Valentina Carvajal was last heard to be in a coma, suffering life threatening injuries and crushed legs. Thus far there has been one confirmed death, sixteen year old Cassandra Valdez.

She couldn't breathe; she couldn't do anything but sit there and read that line over and over again. Lupita’s biological daughter died in the same car accident that put Valentina in a coma for weeks. Valentina didn't even remember reading that line four years ago. She must have skimmed it and forgotten it in the time between the accident and recovery, and actually meeting Lupia over a year later. Everything that had happened after that accident, Valentina obtaining new legs, Juliana's existence, and their seemingly inevitable meeting, was a trickle effect of this one event.

"What are you doing?"

Valentina's wide eyes shot up to Lupita standing at the threshold of the door. Her legs, the legs Lupita gave her, felt uncharacteristically wobbly as she stood up. This was one bizarre situation she had found herself and she blamed Lupita.

"You-you're…a liar," Valentina ground out in a choked, disbelieving breath. "Juliana kept telling me she felt like you were keeping secrets from her, lying to her and I didn't believe her—"

"What did she say?" Lupita demanded as she walked further into the room.

"No, you don't get to ask questions right now!" Valentina stipulated, voice raised and hardened in fear of what she had just learned. She stepped around the desk to minimize the space between them. "For once you're going to answer them."

Lupita’s jaw twitched. "What are you even talking about?"

"You had a daughter," Valentina accused. "Cassandra Valdez."

At the mention of the child she had written so much about, Lupita’s face fell into complete apathy, save for her eyebrows drawing inward in agitation. "That's none of your business!"

"It's my business when your daughter's friend is the reason I have these legs!" Valentina shouted. "Cassandra Valdez's friend t-boned me, then a week later I'm in surgery for new legs while in a coma, and you expect me to think this is all a coincidence?" Lupita’s gaze wilted away, and Valentina stepped closer. "Explain."

Lupita rubbed at the wrinkles that had set in her forehead and released a weary sigh. "It was a Friday night. She had finished her homework, and all she wanted to do was go to the movies with her friends." Her lips twitched. "So she said. She was my baby. I only wanted to make her happy. What would one night hurt?"

The question was rhetorical, laced with heavy regret, and Valentina lowered her eyes away from the haunted look in Laupita’s.

"I let her stay out for a couple of extra hours. She was supposed to be home by two a.m." She swallowed. "I didn't know her friend was drunk. I called her phone at two on the dot and got no answer. A lifetime of worrying later, a nurse from the hospital called to inform me that my daughter had a point-oh-three alcohol level…and that she was dead."

"I'm sorry for your loss," Valentina said quietly. "But what does that have to do with you butting into my life and giving me these legs?"

"My daughter had just died. I was a grieving mother filled with guilt and regret, and all I wanted was for all of this to go away. I knew your parents were going to press charges, so I offered a new pair of legs in order to make this whole thing go away quickly and quietly."

"But it didn't go away for you, did it?" Valentina challenged. "Because two years later you created a replicant to replace your daughter."

"I've never tried to replace Cassie!" Lupita growled in offense. "I've loved her fiercely in life and in death. Nothing will ever compare to her, not even Juliana."

Anger flared within Valentina, quick and hot in her veins. "Then why the hell did you create her?"

"Because I wanted to be a mother again! I wanted a second chance to get it right!"

"But you know she'll never measure up!" Valentina snarled. "And so does she! Deep down she knows something is wrong; she's known this whole time!"

"I love Cassie!" Lupita cried emphatically.

Valentina exhaled a coarsened breath. "You mean 'Juliana,'" she corrected. "Or maybe you don't, after all."

Dark brown eyes widened to saucers once Lupita realized her mistake. "I love her," she croaked out in a rough voice. 

"Maybe so," Valentina allowed. "But not the way she needs. She's not a pet, and she's not second best. She-she's a person," Valentina finished with a murmur.

"She's a replicant," Lupita whispered. "I created her—two years after Cassie died to be the age Cassie would have been. I love Juliana, I do. She's my daughter. But Cassie—I—Juliana's not—"

That statement, as fragmented and disheveled as it was, described how Lupita felt about Juliana clearly.

"Michel hates her," Valentina stated, deflecting to another topic in order to draw a picture of what this web of lies really was.

Lupita nodded her head, lowering it with every nod. Her eyes traveled across the floor to arrive at her desk in disarray from where Valentina had been rifling through his files.

"All this time," Valentina ground out. "All this time you've known me you've known this about me, and you've been keeping it a secret."

"I wanted it to go away," Lupita told her emphatically. "Once you had quit being a blade runner, I thought it would be over, that I'd never see you and have to be reminded of it again," he admitted. "But that day you showed up in the building to test Juliana—" she shook her head. "I was so scared. And I kept-I kept trying to get you to see that she was human—"

"But I knew she wasn't," Valentina cut in, meeting her gaze.

Fear shinned clearly in Lupita’s eyes. "I thought you were going to kill her."

"And that you'd have to suffer the loss of yet another daughter." Valentina straightened and shot her a glare. "Well, good news for you, I'm not going to kill her. But don't you think for one second that that somehow means that I forgive you for all of this."

"Forgive me?" She spat in anger. "I gave you the ability to walk again."

"You buried the story behind what happened that night and saw my face for years afterward and didn't once think to say, 'hey, my daughter's friend was the reason why you were in a coma for three weeks and I'm the reason why you're some cyborg freak now!'" Valentina shouted. "You preyed on my mother's vanity and the fact that she didn't want an invalid for a daughter."

"I'd like you to leave now," Lupita said coldly. Her voice was pinched in irritation and heavy with four years of regret, and Valentina closed her eyes as a swirl of emotions washed over her, choked her vocal chords as she tried her best to discern which emotion she was feeling the most: hurt, anger, betrayal—on Juliana's behalf and her own.

"You are a sick woman," she spat. "And I hope you pay for every lie you've told that's hurt someone, including Juliana." She didn't utter another word as she walked out of Lupita’s office, not even throwing a warning over her shoulder for the replicants that may or may not show up tonight. Her legs felt restless and she took the stairs two at a time until she was on the ground floor. She jammed her hand into her pocket for her phone and walked through the parking deck toward her car.

"Go for Sergio."

Valentina glanced around her, then jiggled her car door open. "Meet me at your house."

She took the long way to his house in an attempt to sort her thoughts out, and to ensure that he would be home, ready to hand her a beer when she got there. She drew her already tightly balled fist out of her pocket and knocked rapidly on Sergio's door.

She could hear his feet hit the floor from where he must have jumped over the arm of the couch, and the door opened a moment later. He stretched his arm out to hand her a beer. "You look like hell."

Valentina grabbed it and walked past him. "Thanks." She swiped up the remote from the couch Sergio had been resting on and turned the TV off.

"Oh, come on, I was watching that."

Valentina shot him a dirty look and he held his hands up.

"Or we could…talk," he offered. "I know that's what you girls like." The couched dipped under his weight, and he slid an arm along the back of the couch with a sigh. "What's going on in Val's world?"

And there were a million thoughts running through her mind, but a single one was screaming at her for attention. "She's not gonna die," Valentina murmured.

Sergio scratched at his five o'clock shadow. "What are you talking about?"

"Juliana. She's not gonna die."

"Last I checked the girl had a hit put on her by Lucía and Eva and a kill switch in her head."

Valentina turned to look at him then, eyes shining brighter than he had ever seen. "That's just it. She doesn't have a kill switch."

His interest piqued at her vague babbling. "Okay, tell me exactly what's going on in that head of yours."

"I went through Lupita’s files. She must have pulled the files of the replicants that came to Earth because Guille’s file was in her drawer—along with a death certificate."

"These things aren't alive, Val," Sergio felt the need to point out for Valentina's sanity.

She waved him off. "Right after Guille’s file was Juliana's. It's this huge folder dated as early back as a few months before he even created her." She swallowed down a lump in her throat and met Sergio's gaze heavily. "Lupita and Michel had a daughter who died in the same car accident that put me in a coma."

Sergio's eyes narrowed at the mention of Valentina's accident. "No way." His lips balled up with past anger he had felt over the situation, and he shifted along the couch to scoot closer. "I thought a guy hit you, though."

"Timothy," Valentina agreed. "Yeah, and Lupita’s daughter, Cassie, was in the passenger's seat."

"And she died," he whispered.

"Then Lupita paid my parents off in the form of giving me new legs so I wouldn't be paralyzed in an attempt to keep the whole incident quiet."

"But wait." He frowned in confusion. "How does Juliana fit into all of this?"

Valentina sucked her teeth in contempt. "Two years after their daughter died Lupita convinced Michel that they could create another daughter to give them a chance to raise a child together again and to assuage Lupita’s own guilt about letting her daughter stay out past curfew the night she died." She glanced over at Sergio to gauge his reaction. He looked like he was going to be sick, and Valentina reasoned that was the only way to respond to all of this. "Except Michel didn't really want Juliana and felt Lupita was trying to replace their daughter with her, but went along with it anyway to make Lupita happy."

Sergio whistled out an overwhelmed breath. "This is—"

"I don't even think there's an adequate word to describe this," Valentina admitted with a disgusted shake of her head. She circled her fingers around the neck of the bottle of beer in her hand and drew a long sip.

"But you said Juliana didn't have a kill switch," Sergio prompted after a moment. "How?"

Valentina licked her lips free of residual beer. "Lupita took it out. Michel had left her because he already didn't want Juliana and didn't want to risk actually growing attached to her if she was just going to die in four years. So Lupita took out the kill switch hoping Michel would come back if she did."

"So when's she gonna die?"

Her lips curved into a thin smile. "No one knows." That was the beauty of it.

"And Juliana doesn't know about any of this?" Sergio asked.

"She…suspects Lupita of keeping something from her," Valentina answered. "I'm sure covering up something this huge is difficult and there's bound to have been slip ups on her end from time to time that's made her suspicious. And with me thrown into the mix—it would explain why she had been trying so hard to keep Juliana away from me. She didn't want me finding out and telling her."

"Are you going to?"

She hesitated, then shrugged, sinking back into the couch. Now that everything had been revealed the sudden wash of emotions that had overtaken her earlier left her tired now. "She already has to deal with memories that aren't her own; I don't want to add to that with…this. But she always expects me to be honest with her because I'm the only person who ever has been," she finished with a murmur. "I'll probably just tell her about the kill switch."

Her mind was still wrapping around the fact that Juliana was going to live. Her kill switch was something that had been churning around Valentina's mind for the past several weeks, and with one thorough search through Juliana's file in Lupita’s office that one worry at the top of her list had been obliterated once and for all. It left her feeling relieved, and dare Valentina think it—happy.

She bit her lip. "I can't let them kill her, Sergio."

He did a double take and beer whipped from the corner of his mouth. "What are you talking about? She's a sitting duck, Val, and the best thing you can do is get your groove on a little until it happens."

Valentina's neck was stiff as she shook her head, lips balling up in agitation. "I'm not going to let them kill her," she reiterated through gritted teeth in an effort to get him to understand this wasn't something he could sway her decision on.

"Then what are you gonna do?" he cajoled with a voice laced with amusement.

She took a swig of her beer to pointedly delay answering his question as punishment for his mocking tone. "We'll move. Juliana and I."

"Okay, Valentina, stop. Are you even listening to yourself right now?" he asked. Her voice had grown airy and wistful, distant, and Sergio struggled to keep up with her. "You're going to just be on the run for the rest of your life? For what? I mean, I know she's hot, smokin' even, but robotic pussy is not the reason to skip countries for the rest of your life."

Valentina turned to look at him with eyes glistening with unshed tears and all of Sergio's protests died in the back of his throat as realization dawned on him.

Valentina was in love.

She was in a state of being where rationality needed no longer apply. And it was so new to him, so foreign that he didn't recognize it for what it was at first. Valentina had always been the most rational, logical person he knew. She was able to make decisions without allowing her emotions to get in the way, and had made for an awesome video game partner back in middle school when his anger over losing would cause him to lunge for the reset button and Valentina would pull him back and remind him that resetting the game would cause them to lose all of their progress, not just that one moment of defeat. To see the level headed woman he had known since they were children sit on his couch and make such a grand decision based solely on her emotions threw him for a loop.

Valentina's gaze dropped to the bottle being strangled by her thighs clenching around it. She heard it crack and she sighed to relax her grip around it before she ended up with a lap full of shattered glass.

"Okay."

The single word utterance caught her off guard, and she turned to find Sergio staring at her. "What?"

"Okay," he repeated, then nodded as if to reassure himself that he was okay with this. "Lucho's gonna be so pissed at you."

She huffed out a laugh of disbelief that he was actually supporting her in this then smiled at him. "He's probably going to hate me forever," she drawled with an eye roll.

"Where is he anyway?"

She smiled even wider. "Babysitting Juliana."

Sergio laughed raucously at their friend's expense. "Can life get any better for that guy?"

"Doubt it."

"Why's she over there anyway?"

The question was sobering, bringing Valentina back down to Earth just when she was tugging at the strings of relief and true happiness. "Because someone left a note on my door," she sighed.

Sergio's eyes narrowed threateningly. "A note?"

She nodded. "I believe I have a stalker." Her eyes cut to Sergio's window in paranoia, before she took a sip of beer. "And I think he's a replicant."

"Mike?"

"Or Sebastian."

Sergio stood from the couch and walked to the exact same window Valentina had been eying. He pulled the curtains back and peered outside into the wintry night to find no one there. "Do you want to spend the night?"

"No, I'm going home," Valentina told him evenly. "I'm not going to let some cowardly skin-job who can't face me like a man scare me out of my own home."

 

Her hallway was empty, quiet, her door bare, and Valentina pushed her key into the keyhole and looked over her shoulder as she twisted it to unlock the door. Hand falling to her gun on instinct, she turned the doorknob and pulled out her gun before opening the door. She stood there, gazing into her pitch black apartment with her gun pointed. When nothing moved or made a sound, she stepped further inside and flicked on the lamp on the table beside her couch. Light chased away the dark and Valentina found her living room empty as she stepped inside. She kicked the door closed and stepped back against it, swapping the gun to her right hand to reach behind her with her left and lock the door.

A soft sigh rose within her chest and blew past her lips. She pushed off the door and continued into the house with her gun stiffly pointed forward. She flicked the light on in the kitchen to find it empty, and continued down the narrow hallway to her bathroom. The shower curtain was drawn back to reveal a clean, white, empty, bathtub and Valentina continued onward to her room. It was pitch black and her fingers fumbled along the wall to light the darkness. Once she did, she was greeted to a bed that was made hours ago, and no sound but a ticking clock on the wall. She opened the closet and stuck her gun inside, but there was nothing and no one there.

"Fucking coward," Valentina gritted out, willing her parasympathetic nervous system to kick in. She didn't understand what the replicants wanted with her, but knew if they wanted her dead she would be long gone by now. Just as she was placing her gun back in its holster, rapid knocking on her door caused her heart to lurch in her throat.

Valentina took quick strides to stand in front of the doorway of her room, glancing all the way down her narrow hallway and into her living room where the door to her apartment escaped her vision by mere inches, hidden behind the wall beside her kitchen door. She pulled her gun back out and clenched her teeth in anxiety as the knocking became more pronounced. Her steps were slow, one foot in front of the other as she walked through the hallway. The closer she got the more a faint voice muffled by the door became pronounced.

"Valentina? Valentina, are you home? I called Sergio and he said you opted to stay here tonight instead of his apartment, which is unspeakably unsafe. But if you're here I'll be here with you—Valentina!"

It was Juliana's voice, and she sounded frantic and all over the place. Valentina's gun dropped to her side as she quickly stepped to the door. One look through the peephole showed Juliana standing directly in front of her door, wringing her hands together. Valentina twisted the lock and grabbed the doorknob to jerk the door open.

Juliana's dark eyes were wide and happy as they settled on Valentina and she poured into the apartment with buzzing energy as she always had, flinging herself into Valentina's arms and planting a wet kiss on her lips.

Valentina closed the door behind Juliana and pushed her against it. She tossed her gun behind her on the couch before locking the door and grabbing handfuls of Juliana's waist.

"I couldn't stay away," Juliana breathed against her mouth before biting on Valentina's lower lip and tugging.

Valentina hummed and chuckled softly. "It hasn't even been a day," she lightly scolded. She wrapped her arms around Juliana's waist and just squeezed her closer while Juliana placed frantic kisses all along her face.

"Lucho is so annoying," Juliana complained. She grabbed Valentina's face and placed a delicate kiss on her closed eye, then dragged her lips over to kiss the other one.

"That's a very mean thing to say about my friend," Valentina mumbled. "Not inaccurate, but mean."

Juliana smiled. Her hands snaked around Valentina's neck and squeezed the lightest bit to keep from causing discomfort. "I've missed you," she sighed hotly before tugging Valentina closer to brush their lips together.

Valentina swallowed back a moan as her hands snaked under Juliana's sweater. Her mind churned with endless possibilities that had presented themselves now that she knew Juliana was going to live. She couldn't allow Eva and Lucía to get to her, and would do anything to ensure they didn't.

This all seemed like it had been a long time coming since the moment Valentina and Lupita’s deceased daughter had entered each other's lives unknowingly. Every chance action since then had been building up to this.

Valentina palmed Juliana's bare breasts fully and Juliana bared her throat as her head tipped back against the door. With a thick swallow, Valentina tugged the sweater upward and over Juliana's head. Long dark hair tumbled in sheets over Juliana's shoulders and down her back. There was nothing shy about the way she looked up at Valentina with confidence in the straight line of her shoulders and longing shining in her darkening eyes.

What made it innocent, what made Valentina pause in the frenzied way her body was choosing to react was the warmth in Juliana's eyes, the unadulterated love that was palpable in the thick air around them.

Juliana stepped forward once Valentina gave pause and tucked her fingers under the hem of Valentina's blouse. Her fingers ghosted over soft pale skin and Valentina shivered at the feel of Juliana's fingers playing just above the waistband of her jeans. She watched Juliana's face redden in arousal before black eyes met hers. "I want all of you," Juliana breathed thickly, lifting Valentina's shirt. "Please."

Valentina raised her arms wordlessly as Juliana pulled her shirt over her head, exposing pale flesh to hungry black eyes for the first time. A soft sound clung to Juliana's throat as she mapped Valentina's torso with her eyes. Her hands deftly unhooked the button on her jeans before pulling down the zipper and Valentina pushed Juliana back against the door and kissed her soundly.

She was going to do this. She was really going to go through with this with the knowledge that what she was sharing with Juliana no longer came with an immediate expiration date. Valentina swayed closer to fuse their lips together and pulled back to pant against Juliana's mouth, "You aren't going to die."

Juliana's expression was bemused as she followed Valentina with her eyes when Valentina fully pulled back to gauge her reaction. "What do you mean?"

Valentina cupped her face. "Your kill switch," she murmured lowly. "Lupita removed it months ago." She didn't bother to elaborate any more than that because this moment between her and Juliana didn't deserve to be dragged through the mud with Lupita’s secrets and lies from four years ago.

"Valentina…" Juliana whispered softly. Her lips trembled as she struggled to say more and her eyes welled with tears. She reached up to cup the hands resting on her face with shaky fingers. Valentina leaned closer and kissed her desperately, then tugged Juliana to her bedroom.

 

She felt Juliana's nose trail up the back of her neck before burying into her hair with a deep inhale. Valentina smiled. She always woke up to Juliana doing the most interesting things. "Hi there."

Juliana grinned shyly against her neck as if reading Valentina's thoughts. "Did I wake you?"

Valentina stretched out on her stomach before flopping back down and burying her face into her pillow. "I don't even remember dozing off," she admitted in surprise. She had been sure there was no way she would be able to sleep tonight with a replicant stalking her, and here she was, waking up with one glued to her naked back.

"Ten minutes ago," Juliana supplied, shifting closer. "Your breathing was deep and rhythmic, very soothing." She slid her leg along Valentina's thigh before throwing it over the curve of her ass to scoot closer.

Valentina had never known anyone to touch her so intimately as if there was no way to be close enough, like Juliana wanted nothing more than to crawl inside of her and live forever. That was certainly how it felt just shy of an hour ago when Juliana's eager fingers mapped every inch of her body. There seemed to be nothing Juliana wasn't willing to explore in her quest to own Valentina's body just as she did her heart.

Nimble fingers traced down the curve of her spine as Juliana pressed hot, open mouth kisses to the back of her neck. Juliana had learned through experimentation that Valentina's skin purpled beneath her lips when she sucked and bit her; it made her giddy to see evidence of all the places her mouth had been when seconds, minutes later dark bruises would appear.

The pit of Valentina's stomach grew warm as she felt the lower half of Juliana's body press closer, her pelvis softly thrusting into Valentina's hip.

Valentina smirked at the familiar feel of Juliana's hips undulating into her. She had a little monster on her hands. She turned her head to rest the side of her face against the pillow and groaned unexpectedly when Juliana bit her neck. "Juliana."

"Again," Juliana begged, pushing against Valentina's hip with more purpose.

The gentle stirring of arousal in the pit of her stomach urged her to do just what Juliana was pleading for, and Valentina closed her eyes, willing her mind to stay focused. "In a bit," she breathed. Her stomach coiled in a tight knot at the feel of Juliana, slick and warm against her hip. The very first time she had felt it, her eyes rolled back. She didn't know what she had been expecting but when she first reached down between Juliana's legs to find warm, wet heat, her breath had whooshed out of her in surprise, much like it did now. "We need to talk first."

The warm, panted breaths on the back of her neck ceased as Juliana stopped moving all together. Valentina turned over under her to find Juliana staring down at her in concern. How she could flip the switch between her emotions was still a little strange, but Valentina had learn to adjust.

"Is something the matter?" Juliana asked.

Valentina reached up to tuck a lock of hair behind Juliana's ear, then brushed her thumb along her jaw. "Would you still like to move?"

Juliana lit up at the question. "You and I would be the ones moving, correct?" When Valentina nodded, Juliana bit her lip and smiled. "I would very much like to move away with you." She looked deeply into shining blue eyes and bent down to press a kiss to the middle of Valentina's chest and pulled back with a grin. "I'm one hundred percent in love with you, Valentina. You're stuck with me."

"How very certain you are," Valentina teased. She stretched out underneath Juliana lying fully on top of her with her chin resting just below Valentina's diaphragm. "I'm stuck with you, huh?"

Juliana nodded and Valentina's stomach fluttered with the ticklish feeling of her chin digging into her. "Mhm."

"I don't think that's very fair to me," Valentina drawled.

Juliana's nose crinkled in mock offense at her statement as she huffed.

"I don't know if I can be with someone so short for the rest of my life," she continued.

"Two inches!," Juliana protested with a pout.

"Uh-huh," Valentina countered, voice sluggish with sleep. She yawned. "And very strong. I may start to feel inadequate."

Juliana husked out a laugh and leaned up to bury her face directly on a hickey she had placed on Valentina's neck.

Valentina splayed her hands along Juliana's back to feel the warmth of her skin. "You think everything is funny," she mused.

"I think you're funny," Juliana corrected.

"Hmm, you'd be the first."

"Surely not." Juliana felt the strong pulse of vitality in Valentina's neck thump against her temple and extended her hearing to listen to the comforting steady beat of her heart. "I'm glad you're okay," she whispered. "What on Earth possessed you to come back here when you know someone is or was watching you?"

"I can't stop living my life just because there are replicants here. I never have and I never will," Valentina answered.

Juliana listened closely to the conviction in her words. "When are we moving?" It was the safest option they had left, for the both of them.

Valentina sighed. "After this is all over. After I can be sure whoever put that note on my door is dead then we can go."

Juliana rose on her hands to crawl above Valentina. Her hair fell down and brushed across Valentina cheek as she leaned down to press a kiss against her forehead. "Let's go get them then, shall we.

**Author's Note:**

> This is an adaptation to a Faberry story called the heart is a machine.


End file.
